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Jailing of Donetsk Journalist Condemned as 'Illegal' Attack on Press Freedom

RFE/RL

   International media-freedom watchdogs, the Ukrainian government, and a
   U.S. senator have strongly condemned the "illegal" and "unacceptable"
   sentencing of journalist Stanislav Aseyev, an RFE/RL contributor, by a
   court established by Russia-backed separatists who hold parts of
   eastern Ukraine.

   Separatist news outlet DAN reported on Tuesday that Aseyev in August
   received a sentence of 15 years in a penal colony on charges of
   espionage, extremism, and public calls to violate the territory's
   integrity.

   The 30-year-old journalist, who wrote under the pen name Stanislav
   Vasin, disappeared in Ukraine's Donetsk region on June 2, 2017, and has
   been held in detention since by the separatists.

   "I am shocked by his completely illegal conviction and sentencing," the
   OSCE representative on freedom of the media, Harlem Desir, said in a
   statement, reiterating his call that Aseyev must be "released
   immediately."

   RFE/RL President Jamie Fly has called the ruling against Aseyev "an
   attempt by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk to silence his
   powerful, independent voice" and along with Desir urged the release of
   Oleh Halaziuk, a contributor of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service who has been
   held by separatists in Donetsk since August 2017.
   

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