Russian Watchdog Urges Int’l Organizations to Monitor Media Rights in Ukraine

International institutions should participate in the monitoring of journalists' rights in Ukraine, Elena Sutormina, the head of Russia's Civic Chamber's commission on the development of public diplomacy, told Sputnik, several days after the arrest of an editor-in-chief of a Russian-language news portal in Ukraine.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Thursday, Igor Guzhva, the editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian online media Strana.ua, was arrested over allegations of blackmailing Dmitry Linko, a member of the country’s Radical Party, for not disclosing materials that would compromise the party. On Saturday, a Ukrainian court ruled to keep Guzhva in custody for 60 days and on bail amounting to 544,000 Ukrainian hryvnias ($20,874). Guzhva has denied the charges.

"It is extremely important today that the international institutions join the monitoring of journalists' rights in Ukraine and give the public assessment to any actions of the Ukrainian authorities," Sutormina said noting that the situation around Strana.ua is not the only case of "the Ukrainian leadership's pressure on undesired journalists and media."

"I believe that many know the situation around Inter TV channel which was literally attacked first by law enforcement then by the nationalists. Also we need to remember the killings of Oles Buzina and Pavel Sheremet, the circumstances of which had not been clarified up until now while the investigation is fully closed from the public," she said.

Sutormina continued by saying that she had asked Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Sebastian Kurz to take the situation around Strana.ua "under special control."

"We believe that the arrest of the editor-in-chief Igor Guzhva was a political decision and an attempt to impose pressure on the journalist. It is not a secret that Guzhva adhered to the views which opposed Kiev and has repeatedly published materials in which [Guzhva] criticized the decisions of the current Ukrainian leadership. We do not rule out that the persecution of the ordinary employees of the edition would start soon," Sutormina pointed out.

The Civic Chamber’s press service, in turn, told Sputnik that other watchdog members have also expressed their concerns over Guzhva’s detention and filed the relevant claims in a number of the international organizations, including the European Federation of Journalists, the Association of European Journalists, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the International Press Institute (IPI) and the Freedom House watchdog.