Safety of Journalists Platform partners call for immediate release of Vladyslav Yesypenko

Partners of the Council of Europe Platform for the Safety of Journalists call for the immediate release of Krym.Realii freelance journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko, the Platform reported on X.

“Partners of the Platform are calling for the immediate release of journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko. Contributor to a regional news outlet of RFE/RL Ukrainian Service, Yesypenko remains in detention in Crimea since March 2021,” the post reads.

Partners of the Council of Europe Platform for the Safety of Journalists call for the immediate release of Vladyslav Yesypenko. Photo by CoEMediaFreedom

Vladyslav Yesypenko's case

On March 10, 2021, Russia's FSB detained "Radio Liberty" freelancer journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko in the occupied Crimea. Yesypenko took part in a demonstration dedicated to Taras Shevchenko's birth anniversary, which took place in Simferopol on March 9. Vladyslav Yesypenko was charged with gathering information "in the interests of Ukraine's special services," including the Foreign Intelligence Service. According to the FSB, Yesypenko "had been performing photo and video recording of the area, welfare facilities, and places of mass gatherings of people in the Crimea."

Vladyslav Yesypenko has said that FSB investigators had tortured him in order to coerce him into confessing.

On February 16, the Russian-controlled Simferopol District Court sentenced Krym.Realii freelancer Vladyslav Yesypenko to six years in penal colony for alleged illegal storage and transportation of an explosive device.

Speaking in court on February 15, Yesypenko said the case was politically motivated.