The European Commission has demanded a full investigation of the circumstances surrounding the death of Ukrainian Journalist Viktoria Roschchyna, who died in Russian custody.
The European Commission called on Russia to stop threatening reporters with criminal charges on 22 October. According to Ukrinform, the commissioners also demanded an independent investigation into circumstances surrounding the death of Ukrainian Journalist Viktoria Roschchyna while in Russian custody.
Viktoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist, died in Russian captivity. She was held in a pretrial detention centre in Taganrog in Rostov Oblast (Russia) and in a detention center located in Berdiansk in the occupied city, where prisoners were tortured.
“It’s vital to conduct an independent and thorough investigation as soon possible to clarify the circumstances surrounding Viktoria Rosahchyna’s death. We will demand that Russia cease abusing its criminal justice to intimidate journalists, and other citizens, through politically motivated criminal inquiries against them,” said European Commission Wopke Hoekstra.
He said that Roshchyna’s death in Russian custody is another example of Moscow’s disregard for international obligations.
“Accordingly to information available, Viktoria passed away while being transferred from a Taganrog prison to Moscow. The commissioner stated that it was the Russian authorities who were responsible for her safety, her health and her physical integrity, when they arbitrarily held her in temporarily occupied territory in August 2023.
Hoekstra reminded the audience that the Russian Federal Security Service has recently opened criminal proceedings against journalists who covered Ukraine’s operations within Kursk Oblast.
Reporters Without Borders reports that over 100 journalists have been victims of Russian crimes since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Some 35 of them were injured, and 12 were detained. In the temporarily occupied territories by Russia, 233 outlets of media have been closed.
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