U.S. calls on Russia to free journalist Aseev

05.07.2019 14:38

Ukrinform

The United States shares the calls of OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir on Russia to release Ukrainian journalist Stanislav Aseev, who has been illegally detained in the temporarily occupied territories of the Donbas for more than two years.

Deputy Chief of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE Harry Kamian said this at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on July 4, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"We join you and your calls on Russia and its proxies in Donbas to release imprisoned Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent Stanislav Aseev, who has been jailed on no legitimate basis for over two years," the U.S. diplomat said in response to a regular report by Desir.

Kamian stressed that the status of freedom of expression in Russia-occupied Crimea and Russia-controlled eastern Ukraine is dire.

Ukraine's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Yevhen Tsymbaliuk earlier called on Desir to step up efforts to facilitate the release of Ukrainian journalists illegally detained by the Russian authorities, in particular, Roman Sushchenko and Stanislav Aseev, as well as film director Oleg Sentsov.