12. 08. 2014

Release of Russian photojournalist urged

Vienna, 12.8.2014. (B92) - The OSCE has expressed concern about reports that Andrei Stenin, a photojournalist with the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, went missing.

"I call for Stenin's immediate release," OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović said.

In addition, Mijatović again demanded the release of Yury Lelyavsky, a freelance journalist with ZIK, and Yevgeny Shlyakhtin and Yevgeny Tymofeyev contributors to various Ukrainian media, who have gone missing recently.

"This dangerous practice of detaining and abducting media workers is unacceptable and must end," Mijatović said. "I call on those responsible to stop targeting journalists for carrying out their work."

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) on Monday called for Stenin's urgent release.

"We share the concern of our Russian colleagues and support the call of the Alliance of Journalists that Andrei Stenin must be released," said IFJ President Jim Bumela.

The photojournalists, who covered Donetsk, Slavyansk, and other towns in eastern Ukraine, went missing on August 5. Three days later an unnamed source told the RIA Novosti news agency that he was held by the Ukrainian security service in the Zaporozhye region.