THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
The Kyiv regional organization of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), which temporarily includes the Crimean section of the Union, has accepted freelancers of the Radio Freedom project, Krym.Realii, Vladyslav Yesypenko, and Iryna Danylovych into its ranks.
This follows from a statement by the NUJU First Secretary, Lina Kushch.
The new union members will obtain press cards from the NUJU and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
“We have always supported people who, risking their own freedom, defend freedom of speech in occupied Crimea and exercise the right of Crimeans to know everything. Despite our colleagues’ temporary imprisonment, we believe they will soon be released and will not betray their ideals. Therefore their membership in our Union will support them morally and strengthen their spirit. In addition, by joining our Union, they will also be under the protection of the International Federation of Journalists, and this will help them and us to strengthen the foundations of freedom of speech in Crimea and more fully realize this integral condition of democracy,” said NUJU President Sergiy Tomilenko.
Iryna Danylovych worked as a nurse and maintained a social network page, as well as several blogger columns dedicated to the rights of medical workers and health care problems on the annexed peninsula.
She was suspected of illegally handling explosive substances or devices (Section 1 of Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code of Russia) – the FSB of the Russian Federation accused the journalist of making an explosive device with medical needles.
As a result, the Russian court in Crimea sentenced the citizen journalist to seven years in prison.
The Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea initiated criminal proceedings on the fact of illegal searches and detention of Iryna Danylovych. And public organizations in Ukraine demanded the release of the civil activist.
On March 10, 2021, contact with Vladyslav Yesypenko, a freelance journalist for the RFE/RL project Krym.Realii was disrupted. Later, it turned out that the FSB detained the journalist and accused him of “connections with Ukrainian special services” and “storage and transportation of ammunition.”
On February 16, 2022, Yesypenko was sentenced to six years of imprisonment in a general regime colony and a fine of 110,000 rubles. On August 18 of the same year, the sentence was reduced to five years in prison. The journalist himself reported on electric torture.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine called Yesypenko‘s sentence “politically motivated.”
The U.S. State Department condemned Yesypenko‘s verdict, calling it “another example of abuses by the Russian occupation authorities in Crimea.”
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) called the Russian verdict in Crimea in the criminal case against Yesypenko a “parody of justice.”
Yesypenko himself claims that the Russian security forces tortured him, in particular with electricity, in order to obtain evidence.
NUJU Information Service
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