Statement by Ukrainian and Russian media organizations adopted following a meeting at the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (26.09.2014)

Representatives of media organizations of Ukraine (the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine and the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine) and the Russian Federation (the Russian Union of Journalists) condemned the incidents of killing, beating and detention of journalists in the zone of armed conflict in eastern Ukraine during a meeting at the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media in Vienna on 26 September 2014.

Since May 2014, journalists Andrea Rocchelli, Andrey Mironov, Anton Voloshin, Igor Kornelyuk, Anatoliy Klyan and Andrey Stenin have been killed.

Dozens of journalists have been detained, among them Yury Lelyavsky, Roman Cheremsky, Valeriy Makeyev, Yegor Vorobyov, Alexander Bilokobylsky and Sergei Sakadynsky who are still being held captive.

Dozens of media workers face difficulties while performing their professional duties.

Representatives of media organizations of Ukraine and Russia consider unacceptable the obstruction of journalists carrying out their professional duties and call for an immediate investigation of the facts concerning the deaths of all journalists and for an immediate release of all detained media workers.

Participants in the meeting agreed to continue the joint meetings and cooperation and to undertake the necessary efforts regarding matters such as the safety of journalists, the development of professional media and de-escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.

Vienna, 26 September 2014

Quelle: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, <http://www.osce.org/fom/124537?download=true>