Portugal Condemns Detention Of Journalist Vyshinsky In Ukraine - Foreign Minister

Portugal Condemns Detention of Journalist Vyshinsky in Ukraine - Foreign Minister

Portugal condemns arrests of people for political reasons, including ongoing detention of Kirill Vyshinsky, the head of RIA Novosti Ukraine portal, Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said on Saturday after the talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

LISBON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th November, 2018) Portugal condemns arrests of people for political reasons, including ongoing detention of Kirill Vyshinsky, the head of RIA Novosti Ukraine portal, Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said on Saturday after the talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"Portugal criticizes and condemns any acts [of] arresting people over their political views. That is why we are condemning that both in European and other countries," the foreign minister told reporters answering a question about the ongoing detention of Vyshinsky.

Vyshinsky was arrested in Ukraine on May 16 on the charges of treason, and supporting the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine's embattled Donbas region. The journalist has suggested that his arrest was a part of the Ukrainian authorities' campaign to gain the support of voters ahead of the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections.

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 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.