Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova was fined Tuesday pending future criminal proceedings after she interrupted a Russian television news program on Monday to denounce the war in Ukraine. “In the short term, she will have no problems, but in the medium term we will have to see if the impact of the reaction of the international community continues to protect her,” Philippe Dam, director of advocacy, warns on Franceinfo on Wednesday March 16. Union The European Union for the NGO Human Rights Watch.
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He points to two laws passed on March 4 that “criminalize the dissemination of false information and speech that could damage the reputation of the armed forces.” The consequence of this law, according to Philippe Dam, is “the ban on language for journalists so that they can act independently” and “forces them to return to the line set by the authorities.” Marina Ovsyannikova faces criminal liability, which provides for long terms of imprisonment. Tuesday’s hearings focused not directly on her actions on Channel One, but on a video broadcast at the same time on the Internet, in which she condemns the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine. Her lawyer fears she will be tried for publishing “false information” about the Russian military, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
“This is a big leap back from thirty years of history in Russia, as we have returned to a situation where censorship is effectively guaranteed by law.”
Philip Dam, Human Rights Watch
on Franceinfo
Philippe Dam describes situations where several media outlets were “threatened by the Russian authorities with sanctions or closure if they did not remove their content, which led some of them to decide to voluntarily cease their activities, such as Ekho Moskvy.”
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However, Philippe Dam reminds that these “significant measures of pressure” are not new and were already in place before the war in Ukraine. “The legal arsenal has evolved at an accelerated pace since 2020,” when the term “foreign agent used against NGOs and activist movements” was “extended to the media sector,” according to the European Union’s advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. This is “aimed at influencing trust” in the media.
Philippe Dam says that “some Russians are aware” of this censorship and are “trying to adapt by looking for independent information, but most Russians remain ignorant or indifferent to this media restriction and attitudes towards the war in Ukraine.”