A Moscow district court said in a statement that Marina Ovsyannikova, editor of Channel One, was found guilty of an “administrative offense” and fined 30,000 rubles ($280).
Earlier, Ovsyannikova was photographed in court with one of her lawyers, Anton Gashinsky.
Dmitry Zakhvatov, a lawyer who previously represented Ovsyannikova, told CNN that the administrative charge was based solely on a video message she recorded before appearing with an anti-war poster on Channel One.
Taking a courageous stance against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government, Ovsyannikova held a live protest on Monday, standing behind a news anchor with a “NO WAR” sign.
The Kremlin on Tuesday called Ovsyannikova’s actions “hooliganism,” a criminal offense in Russia.
The Russian state news agency TASS reported that law enforcement agencies had opened a preliminary investigation into the “public dissemination of deliberately false information about the use of the Russian Armed Forces.”
The bold protest was broadcast repeatedly throughout the day on international television and attracted the attention of political leaders.
French President Emmanuel Macron offered Ovsyannikova protection.
“France strongly condemns any imprisonment of a journalist, as well as any manipulation, and obviously we are going to take diplomatic steps to provide protection either in the embassy or in providing asylum to your colleague,” Macron told reporters at a Ukrainian refugee center in France. .
Macron also said he would raise the issue directly with Putin during their next conversation.
Press censorship
Earlier this month, Putin signed a censorship law that criminalizes “fake” information about the invasion of Ukraine and punishes up to 15 years in prison for all convicted, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Russia has taken tough measures against local media. due to the war in Ukraine, and as a result, many have reduced their coverage. International networks such as CNN, ABC News, CBS News and others have stopped broadcasting from Russia. And the independent Russian news agency TV Rain, also known as Dozhd, has shut down altogether. Its editor and staff, as well as other independent journalists, have left the country.
They have reportedly since been joined by a host from the pro-Kremlin channel NTV. State news agency RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday that Lilia Gildeyeva “is no longer working” for NTV.
The Telegram channel of popular Russian blogger Ilya Varlamov reported that Gildeeva said in an interview that she had resigned and left the country.
“First I left [the country]“I was afraid that they wouldn’t let me go just like that, then I filed a letter of resignation,” Varlamov quotes her.
NTV declined to comment. CNN attempted to contact Gildeeva for comment. The reason for her resignation was not disclosed.
Stand Ovsyannikova
In her video, Ovsyannikova blamed Putin for the war.
“What is happening now in Ukraine is a crime, and Russia is an aggressor country, and only one person is responsible for this aggression. This man is Vladimir Putin,” Ovsyannikova says in the video, noting that her father is Ukrainian and her mother is Russian.
“Unfortunately, for the past few years I have been working on Channel One and doing Kremlin propaganda, and now I am very ashamed of it,” she says in the video. “It’s a shame that I allowed to tell a lie from the TV screens, it’s a shame that I allowed the Russian people to be zombified.”
“I am ashamed that we were silent in 2014, when all this was just beginning,” she says, referring to the Russian annexation of Crimea.
– Paul Murphy of CNN contributed to this report.