Ajit Karn
Russian court convicted a journalist to six years in jail for Posting About Ukraine Invasion
Moscow: As part of an escalating crackdown on dissent in Russia, a journalist was convicted to six years in jail by a Russian court today for statements critical of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine, authorities said.
The decision is the most recent in a line of high-profile verdicts that have been handed out in accordance with new law that opponents believe is aimed to criminalise criticism of the military operation.
According to the Investigative Committee, which is in charge of looking into big crimes, Maria Ponomarenko, who is 44 years old, was given a term for circulating information about Moscow’s army that she knew to be false.
Barnaul, which is located in southern Siberia, was chosen as the location for the journalist’s sentencing since it is there that she worked for the RusNews website.
She was brought to justice for a post she made on social media in March of last year that was connected to an assault on a theatre in the coastal city of Mariupol, Ukraine, which had been under Russian control following a protracted siege.
Moscow has denied any involvement in the strike that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, which was blamed on Moscow by Kiev and its Western supporters.
The prosecutor’s office had asked for a sentence of nine years in prison.
In April of this year, Ponomarenko was taken into custody in Saint Petersburg, the second largest city in Russia, before being sent to Barnaul.
According to OVD-Info, a law enforcement monitoring organisation, her attorney has expressed concern about Ponomarenko’s worsening mental health and has demanded that she undergo therapy.
Nearly a year ago, the Kremlin gave the order for soldiers to be sent into Ukraine. Shortly after that, Russia passed new laws that made it a crime to spread what the government considers to be false or detrimental information about the Russian army and the assault.
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