THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
The statement of human rights organizations regarding the non-provision of medical aid to civil journalist Iryna Danylovych, illegally imprisoned in occupied Crimea, was signed by the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU).
The text of the statement:
On March 22, 2023, civil journalist Iryna Danylovych went on a hunger strike in Russian-occupied Crimea due to the lack of medical assistance. The day before, the journalist fainted while being transported to the Feodosia City Court to review the criminal case materials. On December 28, 2022, the occupation authorities sentenced Iryna Danylovych to seven years in prison and fined her RUB 50,000 in a fabricated case of possession of explosives.
Iryna Danylovych is a nurse and civil activist from Feodosia; she cooperated with INzhyr Media and the Crimean Process human rights project, defended the interests of medical workers on the peninsula: she joined an independent trade union, wrote a lot about rights infringement for example, about underpayments for work with sick patients.
After the kidnapping on April 29, 2022, imprisonment, and the fabrication of a criminal case, Iryna Danylovych almost lost her hearing, constantly experiences headaches, has problems with coordination of movements, and suspects that she suffered at least one micro stroke in prison. Because of this, she cannot finish getting acquainted with the materials of the court hearings, in which she previously discovered several forgeries and falsifications.
Danylovych stated that she equates the court’s intention to complete the review of the materials urgently, without considering her state of health, to torture. The journalist demanded an end to the bullying, refused to get acquainted with the case materials until she recovered, and officially announced a dry hunger strike.
According to the information of the father of the imprisoned journalist, Bronislav Danylovych, the pre-trial detention center administration issued documents stating that a specialist examined his daughter and that her health condition does not prevent her from participating in the review of case materials.
On March 21, 2023, Iryna Danylovych fainted while being transported to the city court of Feodosia, but an ambulance was not called for her. Also, in December 2022, during the debate in court, she felt sick, but the emergency physician who came to the call falsified the conclusion, noting that Danylovych voluntarily refused hospitalization.
We call for the immediate hospitalization of civil journalist Iryna Danylovych, who has not received medical care in the detention center for five months. All this time, she has suffered physical pain. Without urgent and comprehensive treatment, Danylovych’s disease can lead to death, as it already happened to Crimean political prisoners Kostiantyn Shyrinh and Dzhemil Gafarov.
We demand the release of illegally convicted journalist Iryna Danylovych and an end to politically motivated persecution for her public and journalistic activities.
ZMINA Human Rights Center
Crimean Process
Diia Human Rights Center
KrymSOS
Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union
Association of relatives of Kremlin political prisoners
Crimean human rights group
Platform For The Release Of Political Prisoners
Regional Human Rights Center
Kharkiv Institute of Social Researches
Gradual Group of Ivano-Frankivsk Residents
Institute of Mass Information
Institute of Peace and Understanding
National Union of Journalists of Ukraine
Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group
Ukrainian branch of the International PEN Club
House of Human Rights Crimea
Kharkiv human rights group
Almenda Civic Education Center
Discussion about this post