Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Ukrainian authorities to investigate threats and surveillance of journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on the Ukrainian authorities to investigate threats to journalist Yurii Nikolov and the surveillance of the Bihus.info team and bring those responsible to justice.

Source: a statement by the CPJ

Quote from CPJ programme coordinator Gulnosa Said: "Ukrainian authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the verbal threats made against journalist Yuriy Nikolov, as well as the alleged surveillance of Bihus.info journalists, identify the perpetrators, and hold them accountable."

Details: Said also noted that Ukrainian journalism must "continue to flourish" in wartime, "without fear of reprisal".

Background:

• On 16 January, a video was leaked online showing employees of the Bihus.Info investigative project apparently using drugs. The project's head, Denys Bihus, recorded a video message giving explanations and stated that everyone who works with Bihus.Info would take drug tests.  
• Later, Bihus said that after talking to the people involved in the video, it transpired that members of the Bihus.Info editorial team had been under surveillance for about a year, and that fragments of intercepted conversations had been edited together from several episodes that were months apart.
• The Ukrainian Parliamentary Committee on Freedom of Speech has promised to formulate a request to the SSU to investigate who was involved in the surveillance of Bihus.Info journalists.
• On 17 January, the SSU stated that it would be investigating the circumstances of the illegal bugging and filming of Bihus.Info staff.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had held a meeting with law enforcement officials, including Vasyl Maliuk, Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), to discuss the surveillance of investigative journalists working for the Bihus.Info project which had been reported the day before.

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