The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine is concerned by a lack of progress in the assassination of Belarusian journalist Pavel Sheremet, facts of expulsion of foreign journalists for anti-Ukrainian propaganda and the danger for people with pro-Ukraine sentiments in Donbas in areas not controlled by Ukrainian government forces.
“Our concern is based on the weakening of free speech liberties. A year after the killing of journalist Pavel Sheremet on July 20, 2016, little progress was observed in the investigation into this case,” Fiona Frazer, the Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said at a briefing in Kyiv, presenting the 19th UN report on the situation with human rights in Ukraine.
At the same time, foreign journalists are more often being expelled from Ukraine for spreading anti-Ukrainian propaganda, she said.
She added that residents of separatist-held areas in Donbas “continue to be harassed and physically threatened for their pro-Ukraine views.”
According to Frazer, a blogger who wrote about life in the separatist-held parts of Donetsk region was arrested and is being held by separatists.
As reported, on July 20, 2016 the automobile belonging to Ukrayinska Pravda co-founder Olena Prytula was blown up in the center of Kyiv. Sheremet, the driver of the car, was behind the wheel and killed on the spot following the blast. Investigators said they believed the main motive for the murder was Sheremet’s work as a journalist in the country.
