Russian journalist sentenced to six years in prison for criticizing war

On Wednesday, a Russian court sentenced a journalist to six years in prison for criticizing her on social media. Instagram Russian attack on Ukraine.

Maria Ponomarenko, 44, was found guilty of “spreading false information” about the army, Russian judicial authorities said.

The law, which was passed in the wake of Russia’s new military campaign in Ukraine, has already been used several times to sentence people who publicly criticize the conflict to long prison terms.

The journalist was convicted by a court in Barnaul, Siberian Altai Territory, where she worked for the news portal RusNews.

According to the public organization OVD-Info, the journalist was accused after publishing a message on the social network in March last year. Instagram condemning the bombing of a theater hall in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol during a siege by Russian troops.

Kyiv accused Moscow of being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of civilians in the explosion of the building.

Russia denies the accusations.

Maria Ponomarenko was arrested in April 2022 in St. Petersburg and then transferred to Barnaul.

The journalist’s lawyer said that Ponomarenko’s psychological condition worsened during the months of detention, in which the authorities refused to transfer her to a psychiatric hospital.

According to OVD-Info, in September last year, the journalist broke the window of the cell where she was kept, because the glass “was so opaque” that it did not let in sunlight.

As punishment, she was placed in a punishment cell for a week.

In November, she was allowed to remain under house arrest at her ex-husband’s residence, but after an argument in late January, the journalist was again transferred to a prison in Siberia.