Kiev, July 12, 2017--Nearly a year after prominent journalist Pavel Sheremet
was killed by a car bomb in Kiev, no one has been arrested, Ukraine has
failed to produce evidence backing its claim of Russian involvement,
and flaws in the investigation cast doubt on Ukraine’s ability to carry
out an independent probe, the Committee to Protect Journalists found in a
report released today. The report, “Justice Denied: Ukraine comes up empty in probe of Pavel Sheremet’s murder,”
finds that to restore confidence in the investigation, Ukraine should
consider enlisting an independent international inquiry to ensure every
motive is thoroughly examined.
“Pavel Sheremet was uncompromising in his journalistic
career, which spanned three former Soviet bloc countries. He endured
threats, harassment, attacks, and imprisonment, yet continued to report
critically,” said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina
Ognianova. “Sheremet believed in the need to fight for justice, to ask
tough questions, and to look for answers. We are here today to honor his
legacy by seeking justice in his killing.”
CPJ’s report examines the possible threats to Sheremet
from his time reporting in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine; interviews
colleagues and investigators about the murder probe; and traces
Sheremet’s final months in Kiev, during which the journalist—whom CPJ
honored with its International Press Freedom Award in 1998—said he and his colleagues at Ukrainska Pravda
were surveilled. The report also looks at the wider climate of
hostility in the region at the time of Sheremet’s death, in which
journalists were harassed and threatened amid increased tensions between
Ukraine and Russia.
“The hostility toward journalists in Ukraine at the
time of Pavel Sheremet’s murder and the journalist’s allegations of
being surveilled in the months leading up to his death, must be taken
seriously by the team leading the investigation,” said CPJ Executive
Director Joel Simon. “Nearly a year after Sheremet’s murder, Ukraine has
produced no evidence backing its claim of Russian involvement.
Authorities should enlist the aid of an international independent
inquiry to restore confidence that ensure justice is achieved.”
The report was written by Christopher Miller, a
Kiev-based freelance journalist and correspondent for the U.S.
government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. CPJ’s Ognianova wrote
the introduction. The report includes recommendations to Ukrainian
authorities, including President Petro Poroshenko, the international
community, European Union, and the Council of Europe.
A delegation including CPJ board member and former editor of The Guardian,
Alan Rusbridger, Simon, Ognianova, and CPJ EU Representative and
Advocacy Manager Tom Gibson will launch the report at a press conference
at the Ukraine Crisis Media Center in Kiev, today. CPJ will be joined
for the event by Sheremet’s mother, Lyudmila.
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CPJ is an independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide
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