# Claim 611

Ponomarenko told the court she would have asked for leniency only if she had committed a real crime.

Published 2026-09-23. Last reviewed 2026-09-22. 1 source.

- Statement: Ponomarenko told the court she would have asked for leniency only if she had committed a real crime.
- Field: action
- Value: final statement to the court
- About: [incident 2023-russia-ponomarenko-fake-news-sentence](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-russia-ponomarenko-fake-news-sentence)
- Source: Russian journalist Maria Ponomarenko sentenced to 6 years in prison. https://cpj.org/2023/02/russian-journalist-maria-ponomarenko-sentenced-to-6-years-in-prison/
- Publisher: Committee to Protect Journalists
- Method: outlet report
- Checked: 2026-09-22
- Confidence: medium
- Status: current
- Source date: 2023-02-15

## Quotation from the source

> she might have asked for leniency if she had committed a real crime, but said she had not

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/611. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.