The report was part of a list the group released
of 26 journalists who sustained injuries over the past two days that is constantly updated.
Two of the
injured journalists, Radio Liberty journalist Dmytro Barkar, and Spilnobachenya
cameraman Volodymyr Karahyaur, remain in police custody, the media watchdog
reported.
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The Interior Ministry confirmed that a Radio Liberty journalist was among those detained during scuffles between protesters and police, reported Interfax Ukraine.
“Some citizens were the most active and hurled prohibited
objects at the police,” the Interior Ministry said cited by Interfax Ukraine. “They
were detained. One of them was indeed a journalist for Radio Liberty, but there
were no identification signs confirming that he was a journalist on him. He did
not give his name when he was detained. It turned out that he was a
representative of Radio Liberty only when he was identified.”
When contacted by the Kyiv Post, the Interior Ministry’s
media service said it wasn’t ready to provide additional comment or information.
Police had
detained another injured Radio Liberty journalist, Ihor Iskhakov, but later
released him, reported IMI.
Both Iskhakov
and Barkar were beaten by police before they were detained, the non-profit’s report
said.
Also Radio
Svoboda and Channel 5 have released video footage of
police specifically aiming and shooting rubber bullets at journalists.
On Jan. 17,
Yanukovych signed a package of laws that greatly reduce basic freedoms. They
include infringements on speech, assembly and representation, and criminalize
libel. Some 200,000 anti-government demonstrators took the streets of central
Kyiv on Jan. 19 in protest of the measures.
“The international community
needs to understand the full significance of this development,” Reporters
Without Borders said, a Paris-based media watchdog. “This law drastically
restricts freedom of information and other fundamental freedoms guaranteed by
Ukraine’s constitution.
An
anti-government encampment was first set up on Nov. 21 in central Kyiv after
Ukraine rejected a landmark political and trade deal with the European Union.
Protesters have since taken over several public buildings, including city hall
and the central trade union building. Police violently cleared the area consisting
mostly of university students located on Independence Square on Nov. 30 after
which the number of demonstrators swelled. Activists repelled another attempt
by police on Dec. 10 to break up protests.
Dubbed
EuroMaidan by local media, the ongoing protest is in its ninth week.
Kyiv Post editor Mark Rachkevych can be
reached at rachkevych@kyivpost.com.
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