Ukraine Must Exclude Journalists From Sanctions List - Rights Watchdog

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged on Thursday authorities of Ukraine to exclude all media representatives from its recent sanctions list.

WASHINGTON, (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered to ban nearly 400 people, including several high-ranking individuals and journalists, from entering Ukraine for one year due to their alleged links to the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

"We are glad that Ukrainian authorities have reacted to the international outrage that the ban provoked by removing six international journalists from the list," CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said in a statement.

"Now, President Poroshenko's government should remove all journalists and bloggers from the list and allow them to cover the region freely,"

Dozens of journalists and bloggers from the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Israel, Latvia and Russia have been sanctioned by Ukraine.

Earlier in the day, three BBC journalists, two Spanish journalist and a German reporter were excluded from the sanctions list amid an international objection.