On Wednesday, November 6, Verkhovna Rada held parliamentary hearings regarding the “Security of Journalist Activities in Ukraine”, during which lawyer Emil Kurbedinov told about the prosecution of the Crimean Tatar civic journalists in Crimea who are charged with “terrorist” activity.
Speaking from the tribune, Kurbedinov noted that presently the only independent source of information on the peninsula is civic journalists.
“At the risk of life, despite repeated threats, arrests, fines, and psychological pressure, they are doing their job. Thus, civic journalists have become virtually the only independent source of information in Crimea. The “Crimean Solidarity” organization that has been active for over two years, plays a crucial role in promoting civic journalism", said the lawyer.
Kurbedinov stressed that the Russian Federation uses pressure on civic journalists. Nariman Memedeminov, Osman Arifmemetov, Rustem Sheykhaliev, Remzi Bekirov, Server Mustafayev, and other Crimean Tatars, civil activists are now under criminal prosecution in Russian prisons.
“Civic journalists, by all rules, should be free from any harassment and be able to freely collect and disseminate information about the situation on their land, about their compatriots, co-religionists, be able to freely cover war and other crimes, abductions, pressure and torture against civilians,” summed up the lawyer.
Previously, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine awarded Igor Lubchenko National Prize for the Protection of Freedom of Speech to the Crimean Tatar civic journalists, who despite all the prohibitions, harassment, prosecution, and imprisonment, remain a source of objective information about the events on the occupied peninsula.