Former Russian TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova faces up to 10 years behind bars under ‘fake news’ law

Marina Ovsyannikova, former editor at Russia’s Channel One who held up a “No to war” sign during a live broadcast of the evening news back in March, has been charged for spreading “fake news” about the Russian army, her attorney Dmitry Zakharov says.

She faces either a fine to the tune of 3 to 5 mln rubles (€47,800 to €79,700) or five to ten years behind bars.

Ovsyannikova was charged for picketing near the Kremlin on 15 August holding up a sign that read: “Putin is a murderer. His soldiers are fascists.”

She will spend the night at a police station in Moscow. She is currently being interrogated as a suspect.

The former journalist’s home was searched earlier.

After her March display of protest, Ovsyannikova resigned from Channel One. She was charged with organising an unsanctioned protest and issued a 30,000-ruble (€485) fine. Ovsyannikova then left the country. It was reported in July that the woman had come back to Moscow.

In July, the court fined the reporter to the tune of 50,000 (€810) rubles over her speech outside the court during a hearing on Russian politician Ilya Yashin’s measure of restraint.

Two days ago, a court slapped a 40,000-ruble (€650) fine on Ovsyannikova for “discrediting” the Russian army in a Facebook post.