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Ukraine: Russian TV Journalist ‘Disappears’ After ‘No War’ Protest

Published

4 years ago

March 15, 2022

A Russian journalist, Marina Ovsyannikova, who held up a sign in protest of the war in Ukraine behind the studio presenter of Russia’s state TV Channel One, has reportedly disappeared after she was arrested by the Russian authorities.

Ovsyannikova interrupted a live broadcast Monday evening, holding up a sign with “No War” written on it, denouncing the war in Ukraine.

According to a statement posted to the European Commission’s official Facebook page, Ovsyannikova shouted, “Stop the war. No to war,” when bursting onto the set of the country’s most-watched evening news broadcast.

“She condemned Moscow’s military action in Ukraine holding up a hand-written poster in Russian saying: ‘Don’t believe the propaganda. They’re lying to you here.’ It was signed in English: ‘Russians against the war,’” the statement read.

Sky News reports that the Kremlin has reacted to the action of the journalist, calling it “hooliganism.”

Russia has imposed strict controls on news reporting, forbidding the use of the words “war” or “invasion” and instead referring to the conflict as a “special military operation.”

According to Sky News, those who break the laws – which came into force during the invasion – face up to 15 years in prison.

Meanwhile, an official of the European Commission has commended “brave” and “peace loving” Russian citizens for daring to speak out against Russia’s war in Ukraine.

In a video posted to the Commission’s verified Twitter handle, on Tuesday, the official said, “We applaud the courage of brave Russian citizens and peace loving Russian citizens who dare to express their opposition to this war by Putin despite all existing restrictions.

“The most recent example is the Russian TV journalist, Marina Ovsyannikova, who took a brave moral stance and dared to object Kremlin’s lies and propaganda live on air on a state-controlled TV channel.”

While accusing the CEO of the channel as one of the chief propagandists in the war, the official noted that Ovsyannikova “was detained and has disappeared” and “her lawyers are not allowed to contact her.”

In a pre-recorded video released after her arrest, Ovsyannikova condemned the war in Ukraine and regretted being a part of Russian propaganda.

“What is happening now in Ukraine is a crime, and Russia is the aggressor country. The responsibility for that aggression lies on the conscience of only one man, and that man is Vladimir Putin.

“My father is Ukrainian, my mother is Russian. They were never enemies. The necklace on my neck is a symbol that Russia must immediately stop the fratricidal war. Our brotherly nations will then still be able to make peace.

“Sadly, during the past years I worked with Channel One, I spread the Kremlin propaganda and I am very ashamed of this. I am ashamed I allowed lies to be told on TV screens. I am ashamed I allowed Russian people to be fooled.

“We were silent in 2014 when it all started. We did not go out to protest when the Kremlin poisoned Navalny. We simply watched this inhumane regime.

“Now the whole world has turned away from us and the next ten generations of our descendants will not wash away the shame of this fratricidal war.

“We the Russians are wise and proud; it is up to us to stop this madness. Come out to protest, do not be afraid. They cannot put all of us in jail,” she said.

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Morocco Jails French Rapper Maes For Kidnapping Bid

Published

13 hours ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

A Moroccan court has sentenced French rapper Maes to seven years in prison on charges including the formation of a criminal gang and attempted kidnapping, local reports said Wednesday.

Maes, who has roots in Morocco and whose real name is Walid Georgey, was arrested upon landing in Morocco in January after fleeing the United Arab Emirates, where he feared he could be extradited to France, the reports said.

French authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for him over a separate criminal case.

He appeared in court late Tuesday and was found guilty of “forming a criminal organisation, attempted abduction and unlawful confinement” of a rival in Morocco, news website TelQuel reported.

The rapper with over a billion views on his YouTube channel was accused of tasking a gang and hitmen with killing the rival, but the plot was foiled, TelQuel added.

Maes has denied all charges, with his lawyers calling the case “empty” and “arguing that no evidence linked him to the other defendants”, TelQuel added.

Ten other people were sentenced as part of the case, with terms ranging from one to 10 years, according to news website Media24.

AFP was unable to independently verify the reports as prosecutors were not immediately reachable for comment.

In 2020, when Maes was one of France’s most-streamed rappers, he fell victim to extortion attempts in his native Sevran, a suburb north of Paris, according to reports.

He retaliated by opening fire with weapons he had at home, leading to a shootout. He then fled to Dubai with his family, according to an interview with French YouTube channel LEGEND.

Following the killing of his manager in 2022, he was suspected of ordering reprisals against those he believed were behind the murder, according to reports.

AFP

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UK Court Clears Comedy Writer Of Harassing Transgender Woman

Published

13 hours ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

A London court on Tuesday cleared Emmy award-winning comedy writer Graham Linehan of harassing a transgender activist online but found him guilty of criminal damage to their mobile phone.

Linehan, who co-created the popular 1990s sitcom “Father Ted” but has more recently become well-known for his gender critical views, had been accused of sending Sophia Brooks “abusive and vindictive” messages on social media.

He was also charged with criminal damage after deliberately knocking a phone out of Brooks’s hand as they filmed him on the sidelines of a London conference.

Ruling on the case, District Judge Briony Clarke said she was not convinced Linehan’s conduct “was oppressive and unacceptable beyond merely unattractive, annoying or irritating”.

Clarke also concluded Brooks was not “as alarmed and distressed as they portrayed themself to be”.

But convicting Linehan of criminal damage, the judge ruled he was “angry and fed up” and did not use “reasonable force” when the phone was taken from Brooks.

Clarke fined him £500 ($655) and ordered him to pay costs of £650 and a statutory surcharge of £200.

The Irish writer, who also co-created the popular sitcoms “Black Books” and “The IT Crowd”, became embroiled in a free speech row in Britain earlier this year over his anti-transgender stance.

It followed his arrest at London’s Heathrow Airport by armed police over accusations of inciting violence with his X posts insulting transgender people.

The arrest sparked a backlash and claims of state overreach, including from US tech billionaire Elon Musk. But in October, UK prosecutors said they would take “no further action” in that case.

AFP

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Prosecutors Seek Jail For Italian Influencer Ferragni In Fraud Case

Published

13 hours ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

Italian prosecutors asked a court on Tuesday to sentence fashion influencer Chiara Ferragni to one year and eight months in prison if found guilty of alleged fraud over charity endorsement deals.

The Instagram star and businesswoman has been on trial since September for aggravated fraud over promotions of a pandoro cake — a Christmas treat similar to a panettone — and Easter eggs, which purported to raise money for charity or social causes.

The 38-year-old, who is based in Milan, told the court during the closed-door hearing on Tuesday that she denied the charges and had always acted “in good faith”, her lawyer Giuseppe Iannaccone said.

Leaving the audience, Ferragni told a throng of journalists that she felt “confident… I can’t say anymore”.

A verdict is expected in January.

Aggravated fraud carries a jail term of between one and five years.

But Ferragni has chosen a fast-track trial, which gives defendants a sentence reduction — meaning she cannot receive more than a maximum penalty of two years and three months, according to a source close to her team.

In Italy, people sentenced to prison for less than two years rarely serve jail time.

Ferragni started out with a fashion blog, The Blonde Salad, in 2009, and in 2017, Forbes magazine named her its top fashion influencer.

Chronicling her glamorous lifestyle and being paid to promote high-end brands, she built the blog into a lucrative business, then used it as a springboard to launch her own eponymous label with stores around the world.

Her trailblazing story even became a Harvard Business School example of how social media fame can be monetised.

But the fraud accusations have hit her reputation and her endorsements.

Outside court for a hearing earlier this month, Ferragni acknowledged to journalists that it was a “difficult phase of my life”.

The allegations relate in part to Ferragni’s 2022 endorsement of a pandoro cake purportedly to raise funds for children undergoing treatment at a Turin hospital.

In December 2023, Italy’s communications watchdog (AGCOM) fined two of Ferragni’s companies one million euros ($1.2 million) for unfair commercial practices for the “Pandoro Pink Christmas” promotion — around the same sum they had made in the deal.

Shoppers were led to believe that buying the special edition cake made by Balocco would benefit the hospital, but it only received a single 50,000-euro donation from the company.

Balocco was fined 420,000 euros at the same time.

AGCOM also investigated Ferragni-branded Easter eggs from 2021 and 2022, linked to a social enterprise initiative.

Ferragni and her husband, rapper and music producer Fedez, who were one of Italy’s most famous celebrity couples, split in 2024.

AFP