20.07.2017
First anniversary of Pavel Sheremet’s murder. Sheremet was a journalist, born in Belarus, who worked in Russia and Ukraine (after being deprived his Belarusian citizenship and imprisoned, ultimately for his outspokenness against Lukashenko). In 1998, he was awarded the International Press Freedom award by the Committee for the Protection of Journalists. Sheremet lived in Ukraine, in Kyiv, and was a journalist with the investigative journalist online newspaper Ukrayinksa Pravda as well as hosted a news radio show ‘Morning with Pavel Sheremet’ – he continued to be a critic of not only Lukashenko, but V. Putin, Yanykovych and Ukraine’s continuing oligarchic leadership. However, nothing would prepare him, his friends, colleagues and family for his violent death on the morning of July 20th 2016, when a car bomb planted in his car exploded as he drove through a busy intersection on his way to work.
While this event horrified the country and its leadership, this year’s anniversary of his death has prompted great concern and criticism because thus far no one has been thoroughly investigated or attributed to have contributed, or caused, his murder. Today, Ukrainska Pravda’s website banner comprised of a black background and bold white font – Хто Вбив Павла? (Who Killed Pavel?) Moreover, a protest march began at 8am and marched from the site of the car explosion to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to demonstrate, to ask, what of the investigation? What of President Poroshenko’s commitment ‘as a matter of honour’ and the Office of the Prosecutor General’s job to find the perpetrators?
(Trans. #YearwithoutPavel action beginning at 8am July 20th at the site of his death)
From a report in by the Committee to Protect Journalists:
As is often the case in former Soviet bloc countries, the journalist community has been left to do the work of authorities. One of the few new and substantive pieces of information in Sheremet’s case came from “Killing Pavel” a documentary released in May 2017 by the investigative journalism organizations Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and Slidstvo. The team identified a former SBU agent seen on security camera footage outside Sheremet’s apartment building on the night two unidentified assassins planted explosives under the journalist’s car. (The former agent denies involvement in the murder. Authorities say he has now been questioned, and police say they are investigating his presence in the vicinity.)
The presence of the former SBU agent, coupled with Sheremet’s allegations prior to his murder that he was under surveillance for months, add to concerns voiced by those following the progress of the case that authorities are not fully investigating the possibility of Ukraine [governmengt] involvement.
Such a possibility casts doubt on the credibility of the official investigation. To restore confidence in the investigation, Ukraine should consider inviting an independent international inquiry to ensure that every motive is thoroughly examined and that justice is achieved. If Ukraine is serious in its stated commitment to European Union integration, it must embrace the bloc’s fundamental principle of respect for a free and independent press. Then and only then will Ukraine live up to the ideals of democracy that led Pavel Sheremet to live and work there.
https://cpj.org/reports/2017/07/justice-denied-ukraine-pavel-sheremet-murder-probe-journalist-impunity-introduction.php
Open appeal by Human Rights and Media Organisations in Ukraine (in English): https://rsf.org/sites/default/files/statement_sheremet_.pdf
Investigation into his death by carried out and documented by journalists in Kyiv: Killing Pavel https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=liSa5OFCkf4 posted by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
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