TAKE ACTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
RELEASE JOURNALIST MARIA PONOMARENKO IMMEDIATELY AND UNCONDITIONALLY
Maria Ponomarenko is an activist, blogger and a journalist from Barnaul, Altai Krai, who worked for the online media outlet RusNews. On April 23, 2022, she was arrested by the police under Article 207.3 (2) (d) (“Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the Russian Armed Forces committed with motives of hatred or enmity”).
The “false information” she was accused of disseminating was a March 17, 2022 post (which has since been deleted) about the bombing of the Donetsk Regional Academic Drama Theatre in Mariupol, Ukraine by Russian forces, which killed hundreds of civilians.
In detention, Maria has experienced poor treatment, including being held in solitary confinement and not receiving adequate healthcare.
Maria was sentenced to six years imprisonment in February 2023.
Maria is a prisoner of conscience.
Urge the Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Altai Krai, Gerasimov Sergei Yermagenovich to immediately release Maria - send your email using our email-writing tool.
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