Mediarukh, a Ukrainian media freedom movement comprising leading media outlets and watchdogs, demands President Zelenskyy to “resolutely condemn” a pressure campaign on independent journalists and ensure that incidents of intimidation are investigated as crimes against media professionals.
Over the past few days, we have witnessed attacks on journalist Yurii Nikolov of the “Nashi Hroshi” project and on Bihus.Info. Prior to these incidents, similar attacks occurred against Detector Media, Ukrainska Pravda, NV, Censor, Babel, Liga.net, and Espreso. In addition to provocations and attempts at discrediting them, the attacks involve surveillance, phone tapping, and violations of journalists’ right to privacy, all aimed at exerting pressure on independent media.
All of these actions constitute crimes that demand an immediate response from law enforcement agencies. They all harm the future of Ukraine as a democratic state.
We urge law enforcement agencies to recognize the seriousness of the situation and promptly identify and hold accountable those individuals responsible for organizing these persecutions and attacks on journalists.
Protecting freedom of speech and stopping provocations against journalists is in the best interest of the country’s leadership because anonymous Telegram channels, believed to be involved in organizing these provocations, openly call it revenge for criticism of the authorities, including the president.
We also call on our international partners to come to the defense of persecuted journalists, as only public oversight ensures the steadfast adherence to the principles of democracy, the rule of law, and effective anti-corruption efforts, which your countries uphold and which Ukraine strives to implement.
Only through the collaborative effort of society and the state can we overcome threats to our sovereignty and freedom. We will not let those who seek to intimidate independent Ukrainian media destroy our unity. Our unity is the key to our victory.
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