The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, said that Wednesday's decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to uphold the sentencing of Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko is deeply disappointing.
Read alsoRussian Supreme Court upholds ruling on Sushchenko's 12-year imprisonment
"I reiterate my call on the Russian authorities to release Roman Sushchenko from prison. Journalists in the OSCE region should be able to work without fear of intimidation or imprisonment," Désir said, as reported in the OSCE's press release on September 12, 2018.
On June 4, 2018, the Moscow City Court sentenced Sushchenko, a journalist with the Ukrainian National News Agency Ukrinform, to 12 years in a high security prison on espionage charges. He has been under arrest in Moscow since September 30, 2016.
The Representative raised the case on several occasions in the past, including during his official visits to Kyiv and Moscow in 2017.
