News

The Main Investigations Directorate of the Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation in crimes under part 3 of article 127 of the RF Penal Code (illegal deprivation of freedom by an organized group) and part 3 of article 144 (impeding legal professional activities of journalists aggravated by violence) following an illegal apprehension of Russian journalists in Kiev Andrey Grigoryev and Yelena Makarova.

According to investigators’ information an NTV TV Channel correspondent Andrey Grigoryev and a First TV Channel correspondent Yelena Makarova were apprehended on 25 February in the center of Kiev when making a coverage on the march of nationalist organization “Right Sector” prohibited by a court in the Russian Federation. Officers of Ukrainian Security Service held the journalists for several hours against their will.

The Russian journalists were working under a task of their TV Channels and did not violate either Russian or Ukrainian laws. However, Ukrainian authorities acted in an absolutely illegal and even criminal way and grossly violated not only Ukrainian, but international laws. Therefore, the Russia’s Investigative Committee is going to identify all the persons involved in illegal apprehension of Russian journalists and prevention of their work, and to prosecute them.

Head of Media Relations                                                                                                                                  V.I. Markin