KHARKIV – Representatives of some areas of Donetsk region have not given information on blogger Stanyslav Aseyev to Ukrainian authorities, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Commissioner Valeria Lutkovska has said.
“We have raised this issue. There were unofficial inquiries, there was an official inquiry, but we did not get any information from representatives of the so called DPR as of July 5 (the day of the session of the Trilateral Contact Group on the settlement of the situation in Donbas),” Lutkovska told reporters in Kharkiv.
According to earlier reports, Aseyev, who lives in the territory of Donbas uncontrolled by Kyiv, was published in Ukrainian media under the nickname Stanyslav Vasin. According to ZN.UA, the last time Aseyev made contact was on June 2.
On June 11, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine asked the international missions to find out the circumstances under which Aseyev went missing in Donetsk.
The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine has asked the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media in Vienna for OSCE SMM officials to learn about the situation in Donetsk. The union also sent a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) asking it to meet with the mother of the missing colleague and find out what help he needs.
Serhiy Tomilenko, the head of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, said this was done because international missions can address “those who now control the situation in Donetsk” directly to receive accurate information that will help decide on the next steps. Specifically, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine hopes to learn where Aseyev is and, if he is under arrest, what the charges against him are, whether he has access to a lawyer, needs medical assistance, and whether he has been allowed a meeting with his mother.
