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Russian TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova
Photo: Christophe Ena / dpa
The French judiciary is investigating a possible poison attack on the Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who became known through a protest action on television. The public prosecutor's office in Paris confirmed corresponding information from judicial circles. Ovsyannikova, who fled Russia a year ago and now lives in Paris, had become ill in the morning for reasons that were initially unknown.
Investigators had searched her apartment for traces. So far, there are no indications of poisoning. According to the organization "Reporters Without Borders", the journalist felt better in the afternoon, but she is still under medical observation.
"I fear for my life," she said at a press conference in Paris in February.
Prison sentence in absentia
Ovsyannikova was sentenced in absentia last week in Russia to eight and a half years in prison for "spreading false information" about the army. The case concerned a protest action in July 2022 in which Ovsyannikova held up a sign alone near the Kremlin criticizing Russia's attack on Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In March 2022, Ovsyannikova had appeared behind the news anchor during a live broadcast of Russian television, holding up an anti-war poster to the camera. This had attracted worldwide attention.
The 45-year-old fled from house arrest abroad with her daughter in October 2022. She described the accusations of the Russian judiciary as "absurd and politically motivated". The judiciary "decided to finish me off because I'm not afraid and I'm calling a spade a spade," she said.
Numerous Russian opposition members and ordinary citizens have already been sentenced to long prison terms for criticizing the Kremlin and the Ukraine war. Tens of thousands of Russians, including opposition activists, journalists and civil rights activists, fled into exile.
kfr/AFP