An exiled Russian reporter who protested against Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine live on state TV was handed over to eight years in jail in absentia on Wednesday for spreading “fakes” about Moscow’s army.
Marina Ovsyannikova, 45, held up a protest placard during an evening news programme last March but was sentenced for a separate protest she made outside the Kremlin last July.
“The court sentenced Ovsyannikova to eight years and six months’ imprisonment, to be served in a general regime penal colony,” the Moscow prosecutor’s office said.
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Ovsyannikova, who was not present for the sentencing, fled the country last year after escaping house arrest with her 11-year-old daughter.
In a statement posted Tuesday before the sentencing, she called the charges against her “absurd and politically motivated”.
