RIA Novosti Ukraine Portal Head Says His Arrest Part Of Kiev's Pre-Election Campaign

RIA Novosti Ukraine Portal Head Says His Arrest Part of Kiev's Pre-Election Campaign

RIA Novosti Ukraine portal head Kirill Vyshinsky suggested on Thursday that his arrest by the Ukrainian authorities was a part of their campaign to gain the support of voters ahead of the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections in the country.

KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th September, 2018) RIA Novosti Ukraine portal head Kirill Vyshinsky suggested on Thursday that his arrest by the Ukrainian authorities was a part of their campaign to gain the support of voters ahead of the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections in the country.

Earlier in the day, a Ukrainian court ruled to prolong Vyshinsky's detention by another 60 days. The journalist's lawyer said the defense team would appeal this decision.

"The answer is clear. The elections will soon take place and there is nothing [good] to show the voter. The authorities do not propose any other method of settlement of the Donbas conflict apart from the war. The utility rates are sky-high, the hryvnia rate is falling, Ukrainians are leaving for the European Union and Russia to work," Vyshinsky told the Ukrainian Strana.ua news outlet when asked about the possible reasons behind his arrest.

The journalist continued by suggesting that the Ukrainian authorities tried to present their attempts to free or exchange Ukrainian citizens detained in Russia as their achievements.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in May that Kiev was looking into all options for the liberation of Ukrainian national Oleg Sentsov, who was jailed in Russia, possibly including swapping him for Vyshinsky.

In his interview with Strana.ua, Vyshinsky suggested that his arrest was an operation of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) to "reanimate" the exchange possibilities.

"The Ukrainian side needed a cherry on top the exchange list that may be handed over to the Russian side," the journalist argued, noting that Kiev only cared about the exchange but not Ukraine's security.

The Ukrainian presidential election is scheduled for March 2019, while the parliamentary vote is set to take place in November.

On Wednesday, Vyshinsky's health suddenly deteriorated and he was sent to a hospital in the middle of a court hearing on the renewal or change of his custody. Vyshinsky's lawyer said that his condition was saused by a heart attack and a lack of proper treatment in the prison. The court session was continued after Vyshinsky had undergone a medical examination, but the court gave the investigators until Friday to carry out a full medical examination of Vyshinsky.

On Thursday, the authorities filed a medical certificate saying that the journalist's condition was good enough for him to participate in the court hearings and be held in custody.

"There was no full medical examination," Vyshinsky said on Thursday as quoted by the Unian news agency.

The journalist added that only duty doctors were in the hospital where he was brought late on Wednesday.

The prison where Vyshinsky is held claims that he had repeatedly been checked by doctors who said the journalist had no heart problems.

August 24 marked 100 days since Vyshinsky was arrested in Ukraine on charges of treason, and supporting the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine's embattled Donbas region.

The detention of Vyshinsky has prompted widespread criticism by journalists rights groups which said that such moves were unacceptable in a democratic society.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Vyshinsky's arrest was politically motivated, adding that the incident demonstrated an unprecedented and unacceptable policy of Ukrainian authorities targeting journalists who were just doing their jobs.