Members of Ukrainian independent journalists' group Initsiativa 34 have demanded that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's press secretary, Iuliia Mendel, be fired over her alleged physical confrontation with a journalist
KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st October, 2019) Members of Ukrainian independent journalists' group Initsiativa 34 have demanded that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's press secretary, Iuliia Mendel, be fired over her alleged physical confrontation with a journalist.
On Friday, Mendel allegedly physically prevented journalist Serhiy Andrushko of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Ukrainian Service from asking Zelenskyy a question. Some media reports have claimed that the press secretary attacked the journalist by pushing him.
"We demand that Iuliia Mendel be relieved of her responsibilities as press secretary of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy due to her unprofessional and unethical behavior," the group wrote on Facebook.
On Saturday, Ukraine's National Journalists Union demanded that Mendel issue a formal apology. Mendel has meanwhile maintained that she did not push Andrushko and was merely trying to protect the president's personal space.
Initsiativa 34 was formed in January and unites various independent Ukrainian journalists in their commitment to protect media freedom in the country.
The state of press freedom in Ukraine has continued to deteriorate despite the country's aspiration to meet European standards. Most notably, journalist Pavel Sheremet was killed in a 2016 car bomb blast, an act which investigators have attributed to his professional pursuits. In 2018, authorities detained RIA Novosti Ukraine portal head Kirill Vyshinsky on charges of treason. He was held in custody in excess of 400 days without proper court proceedings. Attacks on reporters by far-right nationalists and newsroom shakedowns are also on the rise.