An open session of the Verkhovna Rada’s Temporary Investigative Commission (TIC) focusing on Ukrainian journalists imprisoned by Russia will take place in Kyiv on 28 October. Participants will discuss possible ways of ensuring they are released sooner and of helping civilian prisoners adapt to life after their return, TIC Chair, MP Yevhenia Kravchuk reported in comments to the Institute of Mass Information.
The official remarked that during prisoner swaps it was harder to secure the release of civilians, including journalists, than of servicemembers.
She said that the session would hear testimony from journalists who have survived imprisonment and from relatives of those who remain detained in Russia or in the temporarily occupied territories. Representatives of state bodies, human rights and civil society organisations, and trade unions will also join the discussion.
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“We want to work out what else can be done to speed up the release of journalists who are now imprisoned in Russia and in the occupied territories. These are both professional journalists and citizen journalists,” Kravchuk remarked.
Participants will also discuss ways to help recently released civilians adapt to post-prison life and support programmes that are available to them.
“The session aims to raise awareness of the plight not just of the detained journalists, but of the civilians Russia holds captive in general,” Yevhenia Kravchuk said.
Kravchuk also announced the session in a Facebook post. It will begin at 2:30pm. Reporters are invited to attend. To get accredited, email [email protected] or call 044 255-39-51.
An outreach session of the Verkhovna Rada’s Temporary Investigative Commission (TIC) on crimes against journalists and other employees of media entities committed by Russian armed groups took place in Kharkiv on 16 October. The discussion focused on Russia’s crimes against reporters and media infrastructure in Kharkiv oblast, investigating those crimes, and prosecuting the perpetrators, with particular attention paid to the working conditions of newsrooms based close to the frontline, such as the safety of journalists, newsrooms’ access to reliable electricity supply, staffing problems, insurance, and mental health support.
According to the Institute of Mass Information, at least 27 Ukrainian civilians working in media and one journalist turned UAF serviceman remain imprisoned by Russia today.
