Russia’s case against Ukrainian journalist Vladislav Yesypenko, is full of bloopers; the FSB’s story is teeming with discrepancies and the attempt to link the journalist with Ukraine’s SBU [Security Service] has collapsed. This is the message from Yesypenko’s lawyer Dmitry Dinze, who has previously represented several Ukrainian political prisoners, including film director Oleg Sentsov. As in Sentsov’s ‘trial’, the lack of any evidence or credible charges does not mean that we can expect an acquittal, however Dinze is hoping to demonstrate the “absolute nonsense” behind the FSB’s attempt to increase the charges against Yesypenko and likely sentence. The problem is, as Dinze himself notes, that the situation for journalists is around 10 times worse in occupied Crimea, than in Russia, and the FSB are clearly confident of impunity for their violations. Yesypenko’s case has, he believes, highlighted just how dangerous it is to be a journalist in occupied Crimea. So too do the fabricated charges and huge sentences either imposed or likely in the case of at least ten imprisoned Crimean Tatar civic journalists.
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Russia's War Against Ukraine
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Halya Coynash: Sloppy trial of Ukrainian journalist in Crimea
Ukrainian journalist Vladislav Yesypenko in court. Yesypenko is a freelance journalist who was on a job for RFE/RL’s Crimean Reality [Krym.Realii] Service when he was seized on 10 March 2021, with the FSB claiming to have found a grenade in his car.
