THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
On December 11, an online human rights forum dedicated to the persecution of journalists in Crimea gathered over 70 participants. The event was organized by the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) in cooperation with the Swedish human rights organization Civil Rights Defenders.
“We demand the immediate release of journalists held captive by the occupation authorities. Every one of our colleagues must be free!” emphasized NUJU President Sergiy Tomilenko, opening the forum.
According to Crimean journalist and human rights activist Lutfiye Zudieva, there are currently 18 arrested Crimean journalists, 15 of whom have already received long prison terms. Seventeen journalists have been transferred from Crimea and are being held in prisons and colonies in russia.
The secretary of the NUJU / Crimean journalist Mykola Semena noted that in the first years after the occupation, the occupiers persecuted media workers, including him, “for calls to violate the territorial integrity of the russian federation.” But later, they switched to more insidious tactics – accusing journalists of terrorism and extremism because it is impossible to judge journalism.
Former Kremlin prisoner / First Deputy Chairperson of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Nariman Celal, who also took part in the forum, stressed the importance of informing prisoners about the support they receive.
“The feeling that you are not alone, that not only your relatives remember you, but your freedom, your health, and the situation you find yourself in is interesting and important to many other people – this gives you enormous strength,” Mr. Celal emphasized.
NUJU First Secretary Lina Kushch emphasized the importance of talking about the persecution of journalists in Crimea, as it reminds the world that the war in Ukraine did not begin in 2022 but with the occupation of Crimea in 2014. It was in Crimea that Russia practiced the methods of suppressing freedom of speech, which it later applied in other occupied territories.
The forum presented a collection prepared by the NUJU, “Trials over Freedom of Speech in Crimea: 20 Stories of Journalists,” which will soon be available online on the union’s website.
The event was attended by representatives of national and regional media, journalists from frontline areas, human rights activists, family members of captured journalists, and representatives of the academic community.
NUJU Information Service
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