OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger has sent a letter to Dmitry Kiselev, the director general of Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, assuring him that the organization was closely following the case of RIA Novosti Ukraine portal head Kirill Vyshinsky, who has been in custody in Ukraine on suspicion of treason.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th November, 2018) OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger has sent a letter to Dmitry Kiselev, the director general of Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, assuring him that the organization was closely following the case of RIA Novosti Ukraine portal head Kirill Vyshinsky, who has been in custody in Ukraine on suspicion of treason.
On November 1, a Kherson city court extended once again Vyshinsky's arrest until December 28. The same day, Kiselev sent a letter to Greminger. The next day, the OSCE chief also received a letter from Vyshinsky's mother, who similarly asked to facilitate the release of her son.
"Mr. Desir has called for his release on numerous occasions, most recently in public statements on 29 October and 1 November ... The OSCE, through the Office of the Representative on Freedom of the Media, will continue to closely follow Mr. Vyshinsky's case," Greminger replied in a letter to Kiselev dated November 14.
In his letter, Greminger also confirmed that he had received a letter from Vyshinsky's mother, noting that she expressed gratitude to the OSCE for "repeatedly voicing concern about the prolongation of her son's arrest."
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 offense is 15 years of imprisonment.
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 for help from Russian President Vladimir Putin. 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.
At the joint press conference with Greminger on November 2, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that the OSCE should be more active in protecting the rights of journalists and ensuring media freedom.
Germinger, in turn, said, commenting on Vyshinsky's arrest, that all OSCE member states should comply with international standards and avoid interfering in the media's work.
