All news

Russia should deliver RIA Novosti Ukraine editor case resolution to PACE — senator

The senator stated he would see to it personally that the issue of Vyshinsky’s release is raised at the OSCE

MOSCOW, July 11. /TASS/. Chairman of the Russian Federation Council's Interim Commission on Information Policy and Communications Alexei Pushkov believes that the Russian delegation should deliver a draft resolution calling for release of RIA Novosti Ukraine Editor-in-Chief Kirill Vyshinsky during the next session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in October, if the issue is not resolved earlier.

"I believe that if this issue has not been resolved by October, our delegation to PACE must raise the issue of Vyshinsky, even if [the resolution] is rejected by a majority in PACE, which is possible. The very fact of submission of the draft resolution on this issue will have a rather positive effect, I think," Pushkov told a press conference dedicated to the Commission’s spring session performance.

The MP added that he would see to it personally that the issue of Vyshinsky’s release is raised at the OSCE. The senator believes that this topic should become an important part of bilateral relations with parliamentarians from European countries.

Earlier, Pushkov reported that during the June meeting in Vienna, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir pointed out that Vyshinsky should be released from custody and recognized that the charges pressed against him are groundless.

The Ukrainian Security Service detained Vyshinsky on May 15, 2018 on the charges of treason and illegal gun trafficking. The Kherson city court arrested him for 2 months on May 17, and later the arrest was extended several times. Up until March 14, the journalist was held in the Kherson pretrial detention center. If convicted, he faces a jail term of up to 15 years.