Russian court extends sentence of imprisoned Siberian journalist

(Reuters) - Russian journalist Maria Ponomarenko, imprisoned for spreading "fake news" about the war in Ukraine, was handed an additional sentence on Thursday on charges of attacking prison staff, her employer said.

Rusnews said Ponomarenko, who has complained of being beaten in prison and injected with anti-psychotic drugs, was given another year and 10 months in jail and ordered to undergo further compulsory psychiatric treatment.

It said she denied attacking prison staff.

Supporters say they fear that the journalist may attempt suicide, based on letters she has written to friends.

In a speech to the court earlier this week, Ponomarenko said that while in prison she had been beaten, kicked and thrown against a wall. She said that during one spell in a psychiatric clinic, she had been injected with the drug haloperidol after complaining about being deprived of sanitary products.

"I have never seen so much violence anywhere as I saw in the prison system. The worst horror, of course, happens in psychiatric clinics," the journalist from Siberia said.

Russia's prison service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ponomarenko was sentenced to six years in a penal colony in 2023 for accusing the Russian air force of bombing a theatre in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol where women and children were sheltering.

Amnesty International, in a 2022 report, described the theatre bombing as a "clear war crime committed by Russian forces". Russia, without providing evidence, accused Ukraine of trying to frame it and denied involvement.

Russia has intensified pressure on journalists since the start of the war and 44 are currently in detention, according to press freedom group Reporters without Borders.

(Reporting by Mark Trevelyan in London; Editing by Gareth Jones)