Russian journo raided for discrediting army

Moscow, Aug 10: Russian authorities raided the home of journalist Marina Ovsyannikova for allegedly discrediting the country’s army.

Security officers entered the house without waiting for the arrival of Ovsyannikova’s legal counsel, dpa news agency quoted lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov of the civil rights group OVD-Info as saying on Wednesday.

Ovsyannikova, who has already had to pay several fines for her criticism of Russia’s war on Ukraine, faces a long prison sentence.

According to Zakhvatov, the house searches could be related to Ovsyannikova’s recent protest, where she held up a placard reading “Putin is a murderer, his soldiers fascists” in the centre of Moscow within sight of the Kremlin.

Under the tightening of the law, acts that discredit the Russian armed forces can be punished with a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

Ovsyannikova, as an employee of Russian state television, had displayed a protest poster against the war in a live broadcast in March.

It read: “Stop the war. Don’t believe the propaganda. You are being lied to here.”

The editor, who until then had been considered loyal to the official line, received worldwide recognition for this.

After the action, she lived abroad for a while and reported for the German newspaper Die Welt.

–IANS