Rights of Russian reporters violated in Ukraine - Memorial human rights activists
MOSCOW. May 23 (Interfax) - One of the leading Russian independent human rights organizations, the Memorial center, said it was asking the Ukrainian authorities not to violate rights of Russian reporters from the LifeNews media outlet, who were detained in Ukraine.
"Memorial demands the Ukrainian authorities immediately stop violating rights of reporters Oleg Sidyakin and Marat Saichenko," Memorial said in a statement obtained by Interfax on Friday.
"Up until now Oleg Sidyakin and Marat Saichenko are deprived of comprehensive legal assistance and Russian consular employees have not been permitted to speak with them," the document said.
"The presence of reporters in the camp of a conflicting party should not be qualified as their involvement in armed resistance. Until reporters take up arms, they carry out their professional duty to inform people about events which are important to the entire global community," the human rights center said.
Two Russian reporters were detained by Ukrainian servicemen in Kramatorsk and later moved to Kyiv, where they were accused of terrorism.
