Thirty Ukrainian journalists - twenty-four men and six women - are being held illegally in Russia, according to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said in a statement on Friday 19 July. The IFJ calls on the Russian authorities to release them immediately and unconditionally.
The IFJ insists that these detentions are illegal, given that “international instruments specifically protect journalists in times of war”.
The IFJ details the cases of seven of the thirty captive journalists, pointing out that in most cases “the conditions for the journalists’ detentions are unclear, as well as the prospects for their liberation”. Among them, Anastasia Hlukhovska was abducted by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in August 2023, in the Russian-occupied town of Melitopol. Held in an unknown location in Russia, Serhiy Thyhipa was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment on unproven espionage charges in October 2023. For some, the last news is several months old, while others are not being treated or are being tortured.
American Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich (see EUROPE 13445/22) was found guilty of “espionage” in Russia on Friday 19 July and sentenced to 16 years in prison. The “EU strongly condemns” this decision, said EU High Representative Josep Borrell on X. He believes that “Russia uses its politicised legal system to punish journalism”. The EU calls to “#FreeEvan and all other political prisoners”. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)