Ukraine must not ban media from critical coverage – Rights group

The Ukrainian Government should stop banning media representatives for engaging in coverage critical of Kiev’s policies in eastern Ukraine.

The U.S. advocacy group Human Rights Watch said on Monday, in a release ahead of the 20th EU-Ukraine Summit in Brussels.

Human Rights Watch urged EU leaders Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk emphasise to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at the Summit to cease restrictions on media freedom in the country.

“The Ukrainian government tries to justify these restrictions by pointing to the need to counter Russia’s military aggression in eastern Ukraine and anti-Ukraine propaganda.

“The European Union needs to be absolutely clear that this is not an acceptable reason to curtail free speech and intimidate journalists,’’ the release said.

Human Rights Watch noted that no fewer than two journalists are currently in prison on charges of treason for criticising the government’s policies in eastern Ukraine.

“Several foreign journalists, most of whom are Russian citizens, have been banned or expelled from Ukraine,’’ the release pointed out.

Moreover, Human Rights Watch also noted that the killers of Oles Buzina and Pavel Sheremet remain at large “in spite of numerous public pledges by Poroshenko himself to bring Sheremet’s killers to justice.’’

Human Rights Watch said most of Russian media’s coverage of events in Ukraine, which the watchdog characterised as propaganda, is hard to stomach.

“But banning journalists for anti-Ukraine coverage should not be Kiev’s preferred way to combat Russia’s formidable propaganda machine.

“Fighting fakes with facts and transparency is what will help Kiev to keep its integrity and avoid using the same methods as the Kremlin,’’ the release said.

Human Rights Watch also called on the EU leaders to convey to Poroshenko that strangling independent groups with unnecessary and onerous measures is not the right thing to do to get closer to the EU.

It, however, urged the Juncker and Tusk to condemn the increasing number of attack by violent radical groups.