The "people's mayor" of Slovyansk, Ukraine, Viacheslav Ponomariov, assumes that U.S. reporter Simon Ostrovsky, being held by protesters in the city, may be released.
U.S. reporter Ostrovsky was earlier detained by the self-defense forces of the Donetsk region.
“If all of his documents are in order, we may agree to free him,” Ponomariov told Interfax on Thursday.
The U.S. journalist is being held in “normal conditions,” he said.
“He has been given meals and drinking water. He has a place to sleep
as well. No one has violated his rights. An inquiry is being carried out
in his case,” Ponomaryov said.
“Indeed, this journalist, who, as far as we know, has dual
citizenship – U.S. and Israeli, has been detained by the self-defense
forces. The information available to us indicates that he is the Right
Sector’s “informer”, he said.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, has expressed
concern over the detentions of journalists in eastern Ukraine.
Mijatovic demanded that the persecution and attacks on journalists be
stopped, and the journalists be allowed to fulfill their professional
duties.
She also called for the immediate release of VICE News correspondent Simon Ostrovsky.
