The head of the RIA Novosti Ukraine news portal, Kirill Vyshinsky, who has already spent nearly six months in custody in Ukraine on suspicion of treason, must be released, Rossiya Segodnya Director General Dmitry Kiselev said at a rally in support of Vyshinsky on Friday,
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd November, 2018) The head of the RIA Novosti Ukraine news portal, Kirill Vyshinsky, who has already spent nearly six months in custody in Ukraine on suspicion of treason, must be released, Rossiya Segodnya Director General Dmitry Kiselev said at a rally in support of Vyshinsky on Friday, adding that it is impossible to exchange him for any Ukrainian national detained in Russia.
Vyshinsky was detained in Kiev on May 15 on suspicion of supporting the breakaway republics of Donbas and on treason charges. The maximum penalty for such an offense is 15 years of imprisonment.
"I have an absolutely categorical demand - Kirill Vyshinsky must be released, because I absolutely do not want to get involved in this nonsense surrounding the current Ukrainian authorities. I do not want to enter into any bargaining, because they will bargain and try to change Kirill for someone, and this is impossible in this situation," Kiselev said.
Earlier in the day, Kiselev said that Vyshinsky was detained by Kiev to be exchanged for those Ukrainians people who were charged with plotting terrorist acts in Russia.
On May 17, a court of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson ruled to remand Vyshinsky in custody. The defense appealed the arrest, but the court dismissed the appeal. During a court hearing, Vyshinsky asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for assistance. He also said that he would give up his Ukrainian citizenship.
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. The Russian Foreign Ministry lodged protests to Kiev, calling on it to stop crackdown on media.
On November 1, the Kherson city court extended the arrest of Vyshinsky until December 28.
