Schaban Bajrami (-2023)

Russian war reporter, Rostislav Rostik Zhuravlev (Ростислав Журавлев), was killed on 22 July 2023 in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia (Запоріжжя) region. Zhuravlev worked as military correspondent for the Russian state media company RIA Novosti (РИА Новости). He reported from the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.

Also on 22 July three more journalists from the Russian Federation were injured: RIA Novosti photojournalist Konstantin Mikhalchevsky, Izvestia correspondent Roman Polshakov and cameraman Dmitry Shikov. Additional on the same day the camera operator Yevgeny Shilko (Євген Шилько), working for the the Russian-language service of Deutsche Welle was injured in Druzhkivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine.

More about Rostyslav Zhuravlyov on:

https://en.detector.media/post/statement-media-movement-calls-on-the-international-organizations-not-to-confuse-journalists-with-propagandists-participants-of-russian-aggression-against-ukraine?fbclid=IwAR2eayCfsEehqCnHSg-NQGtAxcf0Zmo0bt9nBhurHk-matCU1d6irFR6UG4

Ukrainian journalists and media organizations, members of the Media Movement, call on international organizations not to confuse journalists with propagandists, who are active participants of the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

UNESCO and the International Federation of Journalists issued statements calling the recently killed Russian citizen Rostislav Zhuravlyov, an employee of the Kremlin news agency RIA Novosti, “the 14th journalist who died since the beginning of the war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022”, and called for an immediate investigation into his death.

We, the Ukrainian media community, remind the international organizations that propagandists are direct antagonists of journalists. It is their actions that lead to the destruction of freedom of speech and the persecution of media workers who work in compliance with the principles of freedom of speech and professional standards. Russian media organizations and their employees, who are active producers of propaganda and participants in Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, must be made accountable for their actions that led to the instigation of the war and the mass killing of Ukrainian citizens.

Propagandist Rostyslav Zhuravlyov personally participated in the aggression against Ukraine as part of armed formations, in particular, in the seizure of Ukrainian administrative buildings in Donetsk region in 2014. As Zhuravlyov himself wrote in his own social networks, he came from Russia in 2014 to participate in the war against Ukraine. This is evidenced by numerous photos of Zhuravlyov with weapons, Nazi symbols, and his posts, which indicate that he took an active part in the Russian occupation of Ukraine. He was also an active member of the Russian radical nationalist party “National Bolshevik Party”, in particular, he headed its Sverdlovsk branch.

We also inform international organizations that RIA Novosti is a state information agency that is fully controlled and financed by the Russian state authorities. RIA Novosti is a part of the propaganda conglomerate “Rossiya Segodnya” under the leadership of Dmitri Kiselyov. both are subject to international sanctions and proactively produce fake news and aggressive disinformation about events in Ukraine.

For years, the Kremlin’s propaganda, in particular, the RIA Novosti agency, prepared the ground for the Russian invasion and spun narratives about the supposed seizure of power in Ukraine by the Nazis and the alleged flourishing of Nazism throughout the country.

In April 2022, RIA published an article by Russian political technologist Timofey Sergeytsev “What Russia should do with Ukraine”, which called for the complete destruction of Ukraine as a state and the ethnocide of Ukrainians. The author equated all Ukrainians with Nazis, and also incited Russians to radical military actions with the help of
judgments such as “Ukrainian Nazism poses no less, but a greater threat to peace and to Russia than German Nazism of Hitler’s origin”. RIA Novosti published many direct calls for the destruction of representatives of the Ukrainian government, in particular, in the same article it was said: “The Bandera elite must be wiped out, its re-education is impossible”.

Employees of such organizations are directly responsible for Russia’s criminal war against Ukraine. Numerous sociological studies indicate a clear correlation between the consumption of Russian state information resources and support for the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine. All excuses of propagandists, such as the fact that they simply presented an “alternative point of view” to the audience, must be decisively rejected.

We call on international organizations to openly condemn Russian state propaganda and recognize it as a threat to peace and an act of aggression, in accordance with Article 30 of the UN Charter.

For reference: Mediarukh is a community that has united journalists from leading Ukrainian media, investigative journalists and experts from independent media organizations. Media movement was launched on February 5, 2019. The first signatories of the Mediaruh memorandum were Suspilne, Ukrainian Radio, Hromadske Radio, Ukrinform, Interfax-Ukraine Liga.net, ZN.ua, NV, Censor.net, Ukrayinska Pravda and many others leading Ukrainian media. The movement also includes leading Ukrainian media NGOs – IMI, Detector Media, Independent Media Council, Internews Ukraine, National Media Association, Center for Democracy and the Rule of Law, Suspilnist Foundation, Donetsk Institute of Information, Pylyp Orlyk Institute of Democracy, Zmina Center for Human Rights.

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Istria Media Days 15-18 October 2023, Vrsar, Istria, Croatia – for professors and students (media, communication, political science, public diplomacy, journalism.

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In a rally organised on 14 July 2023 by environmentalists in front of a government building in Warsaw, Poland, police allegedly obstructed the work of freelance journalist Maciej Piasecki, who was documenting the event.

Piasecki, who was making a report for OKO.Press, was wearing visibly his press ID card, when the police approached him. Piasecki, who has been specializing in documenting demonstrations and street protests for years, covered live over an online platform. Despite showing his press card, officers attempted to block his camera’s field of vision during the intervention against the activists. According to local information, a policeman himself made the action so unfortunate that he broke his own leg.

Piasecki was taken to the police station, where he was released after several hours hours, with the intervention of a lawyer. The phone he used to record the action was also returned to him. This was not the first incident involving Piasecki’s detention by the police while documenting protests.

Allegedly Piasecki plans to take legal action against the police.

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is asking the authorities in Poland to investigate the case and enable journalists to report free from all public events.

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Iryna Slaunikava (Ірына Слаўнікава), a journalist who received a five-year prison sentence for charges of “creating an extremist formation,” recently marked her 53rd birthday on 12 July, 2023. Alongside her husband, Aliaksandr Loika (Аляксандр Лойка), they were detained upon their return from a vacation on 30 October, 2021. While Aliaksandr was released after 45 days, Iryna faced multiple accusations related to her journalistic work at the Belsat TV channel (Белсат). On 3 August, 2022, she was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison for organizing activities that significantly disrupted public order and participating in an extremist group.

While in custody, Iryna Slaunikava has revealed that she is facing deteriorating eyesight, which she believes is a result of inadequate lighting in the pre-trial detention center where she was confined. Moreover, her situation has been further exacerbated by the demanding workload imposed on her in the sewing service at Women’s Prison in Gomel. Her husband has stated that female prisoners effectively function as unpaid seamstresses, leaving them with minimal leisure time due to their work commitments.

Aliaksandr Loika, who was forced to leave Belarus due to the risk of prosecution, is actively involved in efforts to facilitate negotiations for the release of individuals being held as hostages by the current regime. Unfortunately, progress has been impeded by the refusal of Belarusian authorities to participate in discussions regarding political prisoners, as they consistently exaggerate their demands.

The case of Iryna Slaunikava serves as a stark reminder of the difficulties encountered by journalists and individuals held as political prisoners in Belarus, where there is a growing concern for human rights violations. The predicament faced by individuals like Iryna emphasizes the urgent requirement for international focus and assistance in addressing the continuous violations of human rights within the nation.

On 12 July 2023, Mazlum Güler, İbrahim Koyuncu, Neşe Toprak, Mehmet Ali Ertaş, Zeynel Abidin Bulut, Ömer Çelik, Elif Üngür, Abdurrahman Öncü, Suat Doğuhan, Remziye Temel, Serdar Altan, Aziz Oruç, Ramazan Geciken, Lezgin Akdeniz, and Mehmet Şahin were released on “judicial control condition”.

15 Kurdish journalists in Turkey have been released after spending 13 months in detention without appearing in court. The decision, made by the Penal Court in Diyarbakır, Turkey, marks a significant development in a country notorious for its restrictive approach towards journalists.

The saga began on 8 June , 2022, when a total of 22 individuals, including 20 journalists, were taken into custody in Diyarbakır, Turkey.

After enduring over a year behind bars, the journalists finally had their day in court. The first hearing of the case commenced on 11 July, 2023. The journalists faced charges of being members of a terrorist organization, specifically the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in an indictment released in March 2023.

During the hearing, the journalists passionately defended themselves, with many choosing to speak in Kurdish, a reflection of the ongoing struggle to protect their cultural and linguistic rights. They vehemently denied any affiliation with terrorist organizations and emphasized their commitment to reporting the truth and giving voice to the marginalized and oppressed.

The releases are a hope for press freedom advocates, demonstrating that the court recognizes the potential legitimate scope of journalistic activities within the evidence presented in the indictment. However, the case also underscores the ongoing challenges faced by journalists and the need for comprehensive reforms to protect press freedom and uphold the right to freedom of expression in Turkey.

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A prominent journalist, Pavel Mazheika (Павел Мажэйка), has gone on trial on Monday 10 July 2023 in Belarus as part of an ongoing crackdown on opposition figures, independent journalists, human rights activists and other critical voices in the country. Mazheika faces charges of assisting extremist activity, which could lead to a prison sentence of up to six years for his coverage of the political opposition. The Belarusian authorities have labeled the news outlets he worked for, including Belsat TV, as “extremist.” The trial is a continuation of the repressive environment faced by journalists and activists since the disputed 2020 elections, marked by mass protests and a subsequent crackdown, resulting in arrests, violence, and the closure of independent media outlets.

Mazheika born 1982, who was detained on 30 August 2022, has been in custody for over 10 months, and has alleged severe mistreatment during his arrest. He is among the 35 Belarusian media workers currently detained or awaiting trial, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists.

The trial underscores the authoritarian nature of the President of Belarus Lukashenko (Аляксандр Лукашэнка) regime, which has been condemned by opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (Сьвятлана Ціханоўская). Tsikhanouskaya emphasized that Mazheika’s presence in the dock is a testament to the regime’s classification of anyone challenging the dictatorship as an extremist. Belarus is known to have a significant number of recognized political prisoners, with the Viasna human rights center reporting 1,491 individuals currently incarcerated. The trial of Mazheika and the targeting of journalists in Belarus highlight the ongoing threats to press freedom and human rights in the country.

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