Ukraine / Europe & Central Asia

  

CPJ calls on Ukrainian President Zelenskiy to prioritize press freedom

CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon writes to Ukraine’s newly elected president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, urging him to prioritize and promote press freedom in the country.

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Police cars are seen in Kiev, Ukraine, on May 29, 2018. A journalist was recently attacked in Cherkasy and is now in a coma. (Reuters/Gleb Garanich)

Ukrainian journalist in coma following assault

New York, May 7, 2019 — Ukrainian authorities should conduct a swift and thorough investigation into an assault on freelance investigative reporter Vadym Komarov and bring the perpetrators to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Russian journalist Kirill Vyshinskiy listens to a lawyer in a court room in Kherson, Ukraine, on May 17, 2018. His trial, for treason, began yesterday. (AP/Victor Platov)

Treason trial of Russian state media journalist begins in Ukraine

New York, April 5, 2019 — The trial of Kirill Vyshynsky, Kiev bureau chief of the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, started yesterday in the Podil district court in Kiev, according to Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform. The court heard the prosecutor’s indictment and will convene again on April 15, the news agency said.

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The Ustilug checkpoint on Ukraine's border with Poland is seen on November 15, 2017. An Austrian journalist was recently banned from entering Ukraine for one year. (Reuters)

Ukraine bars Austrian reporter from entering for one year

Kiev, March 8, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Ukraine to reverse its decision to ban Christian Wehrschütz, a veteran reporter for the state-run Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, from entering the country for one year.

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A woman sells newspapers and magazines in central Kiev, Ukraine, on January 24, 2019. Two Ukrainian journalists were recently assaulted by officials of the village council of Chabany, a town south of Kiev. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

Ukrainian officials assault investigative reporter and cameraman

Kiev, March 8, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Ukrainian authorities to swiftly investigate an assault on reporter Katerina Kaplyuk and cameraman Boris Trotsenko, who work for the investigative news show “Schemes,” a project of U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Ukrainian Service, and to ensure their attackers are held accountable.

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Cars drive on a highway in Kiev, Ukraine, on January 18, 2017. Journalists in Kiev have recently reported being watched and followed. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

Ukrainian investigative journalists report being followed, monitored

Kiev, February 25, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern for the safety of journalists working at Ukraine’s Schemes and Bihus.Info investigative journalism outlets after both reported being followed and surveilled last week, and called on authorities to swiftly investigate the matter.

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A vendor of magazines, newspapers, and calendars sits in an underground walkway in central Kiev, Ukraine, on November 18, 2016. A Ukrainian court granted the prosecutor general access to a news magazine's files and reporter's emails in February 2019. (Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko)

Ukrainian court grants prosecutor access to newsmagazine’s files, reporter’s emails

Kiev, February 19, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned a ruling by the Pechersk District Court of Kiev granting investigators from Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office access to internal documents of independent newsmagazine Novoye Vremya and email conversations of its reporter Ivan Verstiuk in an attempt to discover a source.

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Reuters journalist Kyaw Soe Oo is led handcuffed from a court in Yangon in September. He and colleague Wa Lone are serving seven-year prison sentences in Myanmar. (Reuters/Ann Wang)

Hundreds of journalists jailed globally becomes the new normal

For the third year in a row, 251 or more journalists are jailed around the world, suggesting the authoritarian approach to critical news coverage is more than a temporary spike. China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia imprisoned more journalists than last year, and Turkey remained the world’s worst jailer. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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A screen shot from a February 2018 Natalie Sedletska report for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Schemes investigative unit about Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko's secret Seychelles holiday.

Ukraine court grants prosecutors access to investigative reporter’s phone records

New York, September 4, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned a Ukrainian court’s decision to grant the country’s prosecutor general’s office permission to access the phone records of Natalie Sedletska, a reporter, editor, and television presenter for Schemes, an investigative journalism project of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Ukrainian Service.

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A screen shot taken on August 22, 2018, from the YouTube channel of Russian state-run TV channel Rossiya 24, of an August 17 broadcast of a false confession by Stanislav Aseyev, a Ukrainian reporter held for more than a year by Russia-backed separatists in Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine. (YouTube/Rossiya 24)

Ukrainian reporter held by Moscow-backed separatists forced to confess in Russia state TV interview

New York, August 22, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Russian state-run TV channel Rossiya 24’s broadcast of an interview with Stanislav Aseyev, a Ukrainian reporter held for more than a year by Russia-backed separatists, in which he falsely confessed to spying for Ukraine. CPJ also reiterates its call for Aseyev’s immediate release.

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