US urges Ukraine to investigate crimes against journalists on World Press Freedom Day

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – May 04, 2021) The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine called on Monday to investigate crimes that have been committed in the country against journalists, in particular the late Pavel Sheremet and Georgy Gongadze, as the world marks International Press Freedom Day.

“On World Press Freedom Day, the United States condemns threats, persecution and violence against journalists and media workers. We demand justice for journalists such as Pavel Sheremet, Georgy Gongadze, Vadym Komarov and others, ”embassy spokesman Daniel Langenkamp said in Ukrainian in a video, posted by the diplomatic mission on Facebook.

Sheremet, who worked for various Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian media, died in a car explosion in Kiev on July 20, 2016.

Gongadze, an open critic of then President Leonid Kuchma, was kidnapped and his headless body was found months later in a forest in September 2000. The murder shocked Ukraine and sparked street protests massive.

Komarov, an activist and journalist known for his corruption investigation reports, was attacked in the Ukrainian city of Cherkassy in May 2019 and in a coma succumbed to his injuries in June of the same year.