KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the surveillance of journalists at Bihus.Information, a media outlet recurrently investigating corruption in Ukraine.
“Safety Service has launched an investigation and can uncover all of the circumstances. Any strain on journalists is unacceptable,” Zelenskyy stated in an tackle on Wednesday. Earlier Wednesday, Zelenskyy met with Vasyl Malyuk, head of the Safety Service of Ukraine, to debate the matter.
Zelenskyy’s condemnation got here two days after a video was posted on-line exhibiting cameramen and another members of the Bihus.Information group ordering completely different sorts of unlawful medication over the cellphone after which consuming them throughout their New 12 months’s workplace get together within the suburbs of Kyiv.
Denys Bihus, head of Bihus.Information, stated the staffers caught on video doing medication had been fired for violating the values of the corporate.
“After all, the wiretapping and surveillance was unlawful. That doesn’t excuse what we noticed on the video — particularly using unlawful substances by a number of of our colleagues,” Bihus stated in a video assertion.
Bihus stated he later came upon his group was beneath surveillance for a few 12 months, allegedly by Ukrainian regulation enforcement. The precise particulars concerning the surveillance and its perpetrators are usually not identified.
“This doesn’t appear like a revenge for one , however an try to strain journalists systematically uncovering the corruption of present and former governments,” Bihus stated. “However I don’t get how can it discredit our work for the sake of Ukraine.”
The Bihus.Information video was printed a day after unidentified males tried to intimidate one other journalist, Yurii Nikolov, who is thought for investigations into protection corruption in Ukraine. Nikolov claimed males in navy uniform confirmed up close to his door screaming, calling him a “draft dodger” and scaring his mom.
Ukrainian media freedom motion Mediarukh condemned the incidents as indicators of systematic strain on journalists and referred to as on Zelenskyy to react.
The Nationwide Police of Ukraine and the Safety Service of Ukraine have began separate investigations into each incidents.
“Clear and unimpeded work of unbiased {and professional} media is a crucial situation for creating Ukraine as a democratic state. Such surveillance details must be given a authorized evaluation, no matter whether or not or not the details of a potential violation of the regulation associated to the circulation of narcotic substances had been uncovered within the supplies of the covert filming,” the Safety Service stated in a press release.