Ukrainian and Russian journalists reiterate urgent need to address impunity for crimes against journalists at 16th roundtable in Vienna | WPN World People News

Representatives of Ukrainian and Russian journalists’ unions on November 2, on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, called upon their governments to promote a safe and enabling environment for journalists and vigorously counter impunity of crimes against the media.

16th meeting of the representatives of media organizations from the Russian Federation and Ukraine, Vienna, 2 November 2017.

The unions met under the auspices of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir. The meeting was the 16th roundtable discussion in a forum that aims to facilitate dialogue between the journalists of the two countries.

OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media opened the meeting by emphasizing the importance of this forum, as many challenges pertinent to free media and free expression both in Ukraine and the Russian Federation persist and continue to emerge.

“I welcome the participants back to Vienna and praise the strong engagement of Ukrainian and Russian journalists’ unions,” Désir said. “Their continued contribution and commitment to addressing the issues of safety of journalists and impunity of crimes against them show the importance of maintaining this forum, especially in the present difficult context of the crisis in and around Ukraine.”

Aidan White, Director of the Ethical Journalism Network, opened the roundtable, focusing on hate speech and journalism. The participants discussed ways to combat this phenomenon while preserving the freedom of expression and maintaining professional and ethical standards in the media.

In the course of the meeting both unions also agreed to continue their dialogue aimed at releasing journalists and other media actors held in custody in parts of Ukraine not controlled by the Ukrainian government, including Stanislav Aseev, a contributor to the Ukrainian Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and a well-known blogger, who was detained in June 2017 in Donetsk.

Representatives of the National Union of the Journalists of Ukraine and the Russian Union of Journalists attended the meeting, along with representatives of the International Federation of Journalists, the International Press Institute and the Reporters Without Borders.

Source: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe