Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsymbaliuk faces a number of administrative charges in Russia
Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsymbaliuk, the Ukrainian UNIAN news agency’s correspondent in Moscow, is facing charges of extremism in Russia.
The Russian authorities intend to make a number of administrative charges against the reporter, Nikolay Polozov, Tsymbaliuk’s defense lawyer wrote on Facebook on Dec. 15.
“Tsymbaliuk is the only accredited Ukrainian journalist in Russia, yet it turns out he is now an outlaw here,” Polozov wrote.
“As is usually the case, he’s now facing charges of extremism.”
Polozov added that the Russian government intends to file a number of administrative cases against the Ukrainian journalist on the grounds of “incitement to hatred or animosity.”
Polozov said another indicator that the Russian government was launching an attack on Tsymbaliuk was a “dirty propaganda leak” of damaging information about Tsymbaliuk, including allegations of espionage.
“The Russian authorities are putting pressure on a foreign journalist,” Polozov said. “They’re basically stripping him of his right to express himself freely and carry out his professional activities.”
The lawyer said he was convinced that the Russian government would be held to account for its actions by independent international courts.
On his own Facebook page, Tsymbaliuk said he would donate “the money he received under a decision by the European Court of Human Rights” to charities supporting Crimean Tatar children whose parents had been imprisoned by Russia’s occupational authorities in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula.
In Russia, Tsymbaliuk is renowned for his firm pro-Ukrainian stance. He regularly appears on popular political talk shows on Russian TV.
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