The European Union takes note of low accountability for attacks on and murders of journalists in Ukraine, according to the European Commission's 2019 association implementation report, published on Friday
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2019) The European Union takes note of low accountability for attacks on and murders of journalists in Ukraine, according to the European Commission's 2019 association implementation report, published on Friday.In a press release on the report, the EU said that Ukraine was conducting "substantial and important reforms" in pursuant to the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. Reiterating support for the country, it still noted that further work was needed in a number of areas, with media freedoms being among them.
"Freedom of the media is broadly respected in Ukraine, although physical attacks including those with fatal consequences and acts of intimidation of journalists and media professionals still occur and there is a lack of accountability for these attacks," the report said.
The commission, in particular, mentioned that "investigations into the high-profile killing of the prominent journalist Pavlo Sheremet in 2016 have not brought results."
Ukraine notably reported the detention of several suspects in this murder case at a special briefing just a day before the EU report's publication. According to the investigation, there are five suspects in the case: all of them have either fought against the breakaway republics of Donbas or acted as military medics during the conflict.
After the 2014 change of power and the start of the Donbas crisis, the state of press freedom in Ukraine has deteriorated. Kiev, in particular, cracked down on the work of Russian media in the country, including by restricting Russian journalists' entry to Ukraine. In March 2015, 115 Russian media outlets had their accreditation with state Ukrainian agencies suspended, prior to which the broadcasting of major Russian tv channels was prohibited in Ukraine.
The tally of attacks on journalists has also risen. Apart from reporter Sheremet, among those killed in recent years are Ukrainian journalist and writer Oles Buzina, Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency photojournalist Andrei Stenin, Rossiya TV channel's Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin, and Channel One cameraman Anatoly Klyan.
