CDA Kent on political prisoners in Crimea, CADLR, Belarus: It’s a very sensitive issue

"It’s a very sensitive issue not only for the Radio Liberty staff. I recently met with Mr. Yesypenko's sister, with Mr. Aseyev, a Radio Liberty employee who had been held captive by militants in Donetsk for two years. We also have a difficult situation in Belarus. Ihar Losik, also an employee of Radio Liberty, has been in prison for more than a year," Kent said in an interview with Radio Liberty, Ukrinform reports with reference to Crimea. Realities project.

He stressed that the situation of journalists in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (CADLR), in Crimea, and in Belarus was terrible.

"Now there are more than 100 [political prisoners] in Crimea, almost 200 in Donbas, and almost 600 in Belarus. There are more political prisoners in Donbas, Crimea, and Belarus this year than there were when I started working for the U.S. Department of State more than 30 years ago. The situation is very sad. As we struggled with this problem 30 years ago, so it is our main task now. This is a very sensitive issue," the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires added.

On July 6, a Russian court in Crimea extended the arrest of RFE/RL freelance correspondent Vladyslav Yesypenko, detained in Crimea in March 2021, until December 18. Vladyslav's wife, Kateryna Yesypenko, claimed that her husband had been forced to self-incriminate under torture.

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