Vienna, 23/07/2016
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is saddened by the death of Ukrainian journalist Pavel Sheremet in Kiev.
The Belarusian journalist was killed in the early hours of 20 July, several dozen meters from his home, when a bomb exploded in the vehicle he was driving. The car belonged to Alena Prytula, the head of daily Ukrainska Pravda.
In 2010, Sheremet was deprived of Belarusian citizenship and had to obtain Russian citizenship. Prytula and Sheremet have voiced their concerns about being monitored several times in the previous years. He was a renowned journalist and a long-time contributor for several media outlets in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.
‘SEEMO is deeply shaken by the murder of Pavel Sheremet’, said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic. ‘We call on authorities to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice. Each time a journalist is threatened, attacked or killed as a result of his or her work democracy is undermined and the path is opened for more violence’.
SEEMO is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South, East and Central Europe and its press freedom work is supported by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) project, as part of a grant by the European Commission.