Translated by Ollie Richardson

13:40:29
29/03/2018

strana.ua

Journalists of “Gromadske TV” [a channel that is funded by Soros and created especially to promote Euromaidan -ed] perceived the publication on the website of “Mirotvorets“ of fund raising material for “the construction of a secret SBU prison for representatives of the international organisation Amnesty International” as putting pressure on journalism in Ukraine.

“We announce the fundraising for the construction of a secret SBU prison for representatives of Amnesty International, who have been looking for it for 4 years. We will realise their fantasies and dreams.”

In a note published on March 26th on “Mirotvorets” the photo of the journalist of “Gromadske” Anastasia Stanko with the signature “waiting for the first stage” was also used.

Anastasia is the co-author of the recent investigation of “Gromadske” into a SBU jail in Kharkov where people are illegally detained. The material revealed facts of public interest, in particular on human rights violations.

“Gromadske regards the message of the website of “Mirotvorets” as putting pressure on journalism and another call for persecution – a method that “Mirotvorets” has used not for the first time. As of this moment the results of the legal investigation into the publication by “Mirotvorets” of the personal information of nearly 4,000 journalists highlighting the military conflict in Donbass are still unknown. Among them there were, in particular, those who provided information from the territories not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities – often, being exposed to direct danger,” noted the journalists.

The publication of this data led to a whole campaign of the persecution and intimidation of certain journalists and media agencies, and threatened not only the professional activity, but also the health and life of reporters.

“We consider such activity to be not only inadmissible, but also frankly dangerous for freedom of speech in Ukraine.

We urge the prosecutor’s office of Kiev to investigate the case on the publication of the personal information of journalists. And politicians, activists, and public figures who support and spread such messages – to contribute to an investigation into the facts of the rather illegal keeping of people in SBU prisons stated in the reports of the international organisations Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the public investigation ‘Secret SBU prisons’,” – they noted.

Journalists of “Gromadske TV” found out that in Ukraine there really was a secret SBU prison that illegally held and tortured people from the territories of Donbass not controlled by Kiev. They communicated with people who were jailed there and found proof of the correctness of their words.

The international organisation Amnesty International declared the existence of the prison two years ago. Coming under the pressure of human rights activists, the prosecutor’s office even began an investigation into this topic – but the case was closed a year ago, without having found a corpus delicti.

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