The Russian journalist Marina Ovsiánnikova, who in March surprised viewers of the First Channel of Russian television by interrupting a live newscast and showing an anti-war poster, was detained for several hours by the police on Sunday, who denounced her for "discrediting" to the Russian army.
There was no information from the police about the reasons for the arrest of the informant, 44 years old. Friends and colleagues published several photos on Telegram in which two agents are seen leading the informant to a white van. Ovsyannikova was reportedly riding a bicycle when she was stopped. "They have arrested Marina. We don't know where she is," they wrote.
His lawyer, Dimitri Zakhvatov, could only speculate as to why. "I assume that it is related in one way or another to his protest action," he explained to Ría Nóvosti.
The police released her three hours later. It was Ovsiannikova herself who reported this on the Telegram news channel Mozhem Obiasnit (We Can Explain).
She explained that she had been denounced for "discrediting" the Russian armed forces during the trial that took place last week against the opposition and municipal deputy Iliá Yashin.
In addition, last Friday Ovsiánnikova published photos on Telegram in which she is seen on a bridge showing a sign with the Kremlin in the background. On the banner she had written that Russian President Vladimir "Putin is a murderer, his fascist soldiers. 352 children have died. How many more have to die for you to stop?"
On March 14, Marina Ovsiánnikova, who worked as a producer at the Vremia news program on the First Channel, interrupted the live broadcast by launching proclamations and holding a poster against the Russian military campaign in Ukraine. "No to the war. Put an end to the war. Don't believe the propaganda. Here they are lying to you," she had written on the poster. And it ended in English: "Russians against the war."
A court then found her guilty of organizing an unauthorized protest and fined her 30,000 rubles. Until this month of July she has been working as a contributor to the German newspaper Die Welt.
The new complaint could lead to a new fine of 50,000 rubles, about 870 euros at the current exchange rate.
