KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the surveillance of reporters at Bihus.Information, a media outlet continuously investigating corruption in Ukraine.
“Safety Carrier has introduced an investigation and can uncover the entire instances. Any drive on reporters is unacceptable,” Zelenskyy stated in an cope with on Wednesday. Previous Wednesday, Zelenskyy met with Vasyl Malyuk, head of the Safety Carrier of Ukraine, to talk about the topic.
Zelenskyy’s condemnation got here two days after a video used to be posted on-line appearing cameramen and a few different participants of the Bihus.Information staff ordering other sorts of unlawful medicine over the telephone after which eating them right through their New 12 months’s workplace celebration within the suburbs of Kyiv.
Denys Bihus, head of Bihus.Information, stated the staffers stuck on video doing medicine had been fired for violating the values of the corporate.
“In fact, the wiretapping and surveillance used to be unlawful. That doesn’t excuse what we noticed at the video — particularly using unlawful ingredients by way of a number of of our colleagues,” Bihus stated in a video remark.
Bihus stated he later came upon his staff used to be beneath surveillance for roughly a yr, allegedly by way of Ukrainian legislation enforcement. The precise information about the surveillance and its perpetrators aren’t recognized.
“This doesn’t appear to be a revenge for one , however an try to drive reporters systematically uncovering the corruption of present and former governments,” Bihus stated. “However I don’t get how can it discredit our paintings for the sake of Ukraine.”
The Bihus.Information video used to be revealed an afternoon after unidentified males attempted to intimidate every other journalist, Yurii Nikolov, who is understood for investigations into protection corruption in Ukraine. Nikolov claimed males in army uniform confirmed up close to his door screaming, calling him a “draft dodger” and scaring his mom.
Ukrainian media freedom motion Mediarukh condemned the incidents as indicators of systematic drive on reporters and known as on Zelenskyy to react.
The Nationwide Police of Ukraine and the Safety Carrier of Ukraine have began separate investigations into each incidents.
“Clear and unimpeded paintings of impartial {and professional} media is a very powerful situation for growing Ukraine as a democratic state. Such surveillance details must be given a prison overview, irrespective of whether or not or no longer the details of a imaginable violation of the legislation associated with the flow of narcotic ingredients had been exposed within the fabrics of the covert filming,” the Safety Carrier stated in a remark.
