Media union urges Zelenskyy to condemn intimidation of journalists through harassment, surveillance
Members of the Mediarukh, a Ukrainian media freedom movement comprising leading media outlets and watchdogs, have called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to condemn pressure on independent journalists and investigators and to take charge of the investigation of crimes against media workers, Detector Media watchdog reported on Jan. 17.
Independent media and investigative journalists are systematically persecuted in Ukraine, and provocations are staged in real life to discredit their professional work, the statement reads.
Surveillance, wiretapping, and violations of journalists' right to privacy have been observed, Mediarukh says.
All this is done to put pressure on independent media.
The group called on law enforcement agencies to identify and punish people involved in organizing harassment and attacks on journalists.
"Protecting freedom of speech and stopping provocations against journalists is in the interests of the state leadership, as anonymous Telegram channels linked to the provocations see them as retaliation for criticism of authorities, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy," the statement reads.
The media movement asked its international partners to defend the persecuted journalists. It also appealed to civil society.
"Only through the joint efforts of society and the state can we overcome threats to our statehood and freedom," Mediarukh members said.
“We will not allow those who try to intimidate independent Ukrainian media to destroy our unity. It is the key to our victory.”
Mediarukh is a community that brings together journalists from leading Ukrainian media, investigative journalists, and experts from media NGOs.
On Jan. 15 unidentified people attempted to break into the apartment of journalist YuriyNikolov in Kyiv. Nikolov is the author of a high-profile investigation into inflated food prices for the Defense Ministry, which led to the resignation of its head, Oleksii Reznikov and the passage of a bill in the Verkhovna Rada regarding the creation of a transparent defenseprocurement system. According to Nikolov, he was visiting a friend at the time of the attempted break-in, but his mother was at home.
A video was leaked online on Jan. 16 showing employees of the Bihus.Info investigative project, the authors of high-profile investigations into the government, politicians, and law enforcement agencies, allegedly using drugs. Project manager Denys Bihus stated that the surveillance and wiretapping were illegal. Deputy editor-in-chief Maksym Opanasenkoclaimed that the team had been bugged for several months.
Fact-checker Alyona Romaniuk said that the editor-in-chief of Narodna Pravda, which published the video, does not actually exist and that the footage in question could have been generated by artificial intelligence.
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