One Free Press put Aseyev to list of 10 most urgent cases

The international press freedom association put Stanislav Aseyev, Ukrainian journalist held in captivity in Donbass region into the list of 10 most urgent cases of injustice against the journalists in the world. One Free Press said that disappeared reporter turns up in prison, held with limited communication. Ukrainian freelance reporter Stanislav Aseyev disappeared two years ago in Donetsk, Ukraine. He was reportedly detained by Russia-backed separatists in east Ukraine and confessed to espionage charges on a Russian state-run TV channel while under obvious duress. Family members have had intermittent communication with him over the past two years, and there are serious concerns over Aseyev’s health in prison. Aseyev is fifth in the list, after murdered Saudi columnist for “Washington Post” Jamal Khasoggi, murdered Mexican crime reporter Norma Sarabia, Iranian arrested journalist MArzieh Amiri, missing journalist from Tanzania Azory Gwanda. The One Free Press Coalition is an association of pre-eminent editors and publishers using their global reach and social platforms to spotlight journalists under attack worldwide. The One Free Press Coalition counts 36 prominent international members including: AméricaEconomía; The Associated Press; Barron’s; Bloomberg News; The Boston Globe; BuzzFeed; CNN Money Switzerland; Corriere Della Sera; De Standaard; Deutsche Welle; Estadão; EURACTIV; The Financial Times; Forbes; Fortune; HuffPost; India Today; Insider Inc.; Le Temps; Middle East Broadcasting Networks; NHK; Office of Cuba Broadcasting; Politico; Quartz; Radio Free Asia; Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty; Republik; Reuters; The Straits Times; Süddeutsche Zeitung; TIME; TV Azteca; Voice of America; The Washington Post; WIRED; and Yahoo News. One Free Press Coalition partners with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) to identify the most-urgent cases for the list, which is updated and published on the first day of every month. IMI informed journalist and author of the project of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was going missing on June2 2017. It was found out Aseyev was held in captivity by Russian hybrid forces in the occupied part of the Donbas from May or June 2017, on charges of “espionage in favor of Ukraine.” IMI reported, on August 17, 2018, the Russia 24 TV program showed a program in which the captured journalist Stanislav Aseyev allegedly confessed that he had been working for Ukrainian intelligence. On August 17, 2018, Radio Free Europe / Radio Free Europe reported that it considered a very dubious “confession” in the espionage of Stanislav Aseyev, broadcasted by “Russia 24” TV channel. On 20 of August 2018, the journalist community in Ukraine expressed its concerns with his confession and supposed they used physical or psychological pressure onto him to make him “confess”.