PACE calls on Russia to immediately release Ukrainian journalists from captivity

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has adopted a resolution demanding that Russia immediately release 26 Ukrainian journalists who are currently in captivity.

This was reported by Krym.Realii.

The document, authored by the deputy head of the Servant of the People faction Yevhenia Kravchuk, pays special attention to the situation in the occupied Crimea and the persecution of Ukrainian media on the peninsula. The resolution emphasizes the inadmissibility of pressure on media workers and calls for their immediate release.

For the first time, the term 'citizen journalists' was used in the PACE resolution. The document emphasizes that these people, mostly Crimean Tatar activists and relatives of political prisoners, take daily risks working anonymously to cover the events of the occupation of Crimea and are often persecuted.

The Assembly has officially recorded that since February 24, 2022, Russia has committed more than 800 crimes against media professionals, including the murder of 108 people. The PACE put forward a number of demands to Russia, noting that the practice of torture, murder and persecution of journalists has been going on for years, starting in the occupied Crimea, and only since 2022 has spread to other occupied territories.

In addition to the immediate release of the prisoners, the occupying country was called upon to stop the practice of torture, murder and persecution of journalists, provide information on the whereabouts and health of captured media workers, and, in particular, to allow representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit Ukrainian journalists.

PACE also called on the Council of Europe member states to increase sanctions pressure on all those involved in crimes against journalists and to support international accountability mechanisms, including the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression.

As a sign of solidarity and remembrance, PACE established an annual Victory for Victoria ceremony, named in honor of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity. This commemorative event will be held annually during the fall session.

The debate and the vote in PACE were attended by Krym.Realii journalist <b>Vladislav Yesypenko</b> and UNIAN correspondent <b>Dmytro Khilyuk</b>, who were released from captivity earlier.

Катерина Глушко