Solidarity with imprisoned journalists a priority for joint actions of the state, the media, and international partners

On January 30, a meeting of the Coordination Committee for the implementation of the Council of Europe campaign Journalists Matter was held at the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications, chaired by Deputy Minister Andrii Nadzhos.

The President of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU)/member of the Steering Committee of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Sergiy Tomilenko, presented the report Executed Free Speech-2024 on russian war crimes against journalists. The Coordination Committee, created to implement the Council of Europe’s five-year campaign on the safety of journalists, unites the efforts of the state and the media community in protecting the rights of journalists.

Alarming signals are coming from the temporarily occupied territories – the occupiers have launched a new wave of interrogations of our colleagues. The NUJU maintains constant contact with journalists in occupation and their families.

“We demand the unconditional release by russia of all illegally imprisoned Ukrainian journalists and express solidarity with our colleagues and their families. Unfortunately, not only Ukraine but also international institutions do not have the leverage to directly influence the aggressor country. But as journalists who have been captured testify, every action, statement, and event of solidarity is important – this news does seep into the russian dungeons and helps our colleagues not to break and to persevere,” emphasized Sergiy Tomilenko.

Extremely important speeches were made by media lawyer Daniil Serbin and human rights activist Liudmyla Huseinova on mechanisms for protecting the rights of imprisoned journalists.

Lina Kushch, the First Secretary of the NUJU, spoke about strengthening the effectiveness of joint human rights initiatives.

Last year, the NUJU managed to open a photo exhibition at the Council of Europe in solidarity with captured colleagues. This year, support initiatives are expanding – the Swiss Fondation Hirondelle (with the support of Swiss Solidarity) has launched a joint project with the NUJU to protect imprisoned media workers.

“I thank the Director of the Department of Information Policy and Information Security of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, Hanna Krasnostup, for coordinating the work of the Committee. I am convinced that only the combined efforts of the state, the media community, and international partners will help free our colleagues from russian captivity,” Sergiy Tomilenko wrote on the social network.