U.S. State Department: Ukrainian Authorities Persecute Journalists

WASHINGTON DC — The U.S. State Department’s annual human rights report has documented serious violations of press freedom in Ukraine, including persecution of journalists by the authorities. The report notes that while the Ukrainian constitution and laws provide for freedom of expression for the press and other media, officials do not always uphold these rights.

According to the document, authorities “at times initiated and encouraged the harassment of journalists.” Reports included threats from government officials to attack journalists, as well as physical assaults on reporters covering corruption. Special attention was given to the case of Gonzalo Lira, a Chilean-American filmmaker arrested in 2023 on charges of “justifying Russian military actions in Ukraine.” His health deteriorated in pretrial detention, and he died on January 12 from an illness that “may have resulted from neglect or improper treatment.”

The report records threats from Ukraine’s security services, with some journalists saying officers warned them they could be forcibly mobilized into the military as retaliation for critical reporting on the administration. Media outlets also reported that security agencies placed their staff under surveillance.

The government banned, blocked, or sanctioned media and individual journalists it considered a threat to national security or whose positions it believed undermined the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Some government critics were blacklisted from official news programs.

Investigative reporters critical of the government “were sometimes targeted by negative social media campaigns, occasionally through government-friendly channels,” the State Department said. There were also cases of censorship, content restrictions, and punishments for allegedly criticizing government measures or expressing pro-Russian views, through financial sanctions, website bans, and television channel blocks.

Media professionals reported being denied access to official procedures after covering sensitive issues, and some alleged they were threatened with prosecution in retaliation for their work.

The report recalls that on March 12, 2024, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) arrested three employees of the Union of Orthodox Journalists in Ukraine (SPZh) on what it calls absurd charges of treason. One was held for seven months, two for eight. At the SBU’s request, authorities blocked the SPZh website in Ukraine five times, as well as those of UOJ Bureaus in Bulgaria and the United States.

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