Rome, 04/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 3 July, the European Union “strongly” denounced the intimidation of journalists by the self-proclaimed “authorities” in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, “including physical threats and abductions”, and it called for “independent investigations” into all recently reported cases of violations of journalists' rights.
“We are deeply concerned by (…) the impact of the violence on the freedom of media and freedom of expression”, said the spokesperson for High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton. “Safety of journalists is a fundamental pillar of the right to media freedom, which we call on all sides to respect”, Ashton's spokesperson continued.
The EU also deplored the incident in which two Russian journalists were injured on 1 July, only a few days after the death of Russian journalist Anatoly Klyan, “which demonstrates the gravity of the situation in Eastern Ukraine”, said Ashton's spokesperson. Her spokesperson also mentioned the recent illegal detention of two Ukrainian journalists for two days by pro-Russian separatists in the Luhansk region. (CG)