French prosecutors opened an investigation Thursday into the alleged poisoning in France of Marina Ovsyannikova, a Russian journalist who is in exile after speaking out against the war in Ukraine live on Russian state television.
The journalist, who now lives in France, felt unwell when she opened the door of her apartment in central Paris and noticed a powdery substance, according to a source close to the investigation who asked not to be identified.
Another source said the journalist told investigators that she had been poisoned by Russians and that samples had been taken from her home. But a third source added that there was no evidence of poisoning “at this stage”.
The secretary general of the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Christophe Deloire, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that Ovsyannikova felt unwell on the street early in the morning and has since been supported by an RSF team. “The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into suspected poisoning,” he confirmed.
In March 2022, Marina Ovsyannikova interrupted live a Russian television program to denounce the invasion of Ukraine.
In October last year, Russian judicial authorities issued a warrant to search and capture the journalist who left Russia while under house arrest.
Previously, Ovsyannikova had been fined for actions contrary to the Russian military.
The journalist worked at Channel 1 in Moscow and on March 14, 2022, she interrupted the broadcast by putting up a poster with a sentence against the Russian military invasion of Ukraine that Moscow labels as a “special operation”.
The journalist was sentenced at the time to pay a fine of 30,000 rubles (255 euros) for organizing a public event without permission.
Later, after an investigation into the case, she was fired from the television network and went to work for the German daily Die Welt.
A Russian court sentenced the journalist in absentia earlier this month to eight and a half years in prison, stating that the reporter must serve the sentence “in a penal colony of the general regime” and also banning her from “participating in activities that related to the administration of Internet portals or information and telecommunications networks”.
Source: DN
