Russian journalists have written to Ukraine's president-elect, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, asking him to facilitate the release of RIA Novosti Ukraine portal head Kirill Vyshinsky, who has been jailed in Ukraine since May
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th April, 2019) Russian journalists have written to Ukraine's president-elect, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, asking him to facilitate the release of RIA Novosti Ukraine portal head Kirill Vyshinsky, who has been jailed in Ukraine since May.
The Ukrainian Central Election Commission announced on Tuesday that Zelenskiy had won the presidential runoff with 73.22 percent of the vote.
"You have said that media should be as free as possible. And the Vyshinsky situation is a violation of European norms, human rights and the rights of journalists. We urge you to pay attention to the situation with Kirill and to do your utmost to ensure his early release," the letter, published on RIA Novosti's website, said.
The journalists reiterated in their letter that Vyshinsky's arrest and the charges of treason brought against him were not justified, stressing that the journalist had done nothing but his job.
The letter was signed, among others, by Sputnik and RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan, President of the Russian Union of Journalists Vladimir Solovyev and Rossiya 1 tv Channel Deputy Director Sergey Brilev.
Vyshinsky, a Ukrainian citizen, was arrested in Kiev in May on suspicion of supporting the eastern Ukrainian breakaway republics. He was then transferred to the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, where he was taken into custody by court order. The journalist was transferred in early March to a jail in Kiev. Later that month Kiev's Podolsky court ruled to extend Vyshinsky's arrest until May 24.
Vyshinsky's arrest has been largely condemned by officials and rights groups. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in June that the arrest was politically motivated, adding that the incident demonstrated the unprecedented and unacceptable policy of Ukrainian authorities targeting journalists for doing their jobs.
