Russian court upholds Ukrainian journalist’s 12-year sentence

Russia’s supreme court yesterday upheld Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko’s sentence of 12 years in a maximum-security prison camp on a charge of spying. Like the original trial, the supreme court hearing was held behind closed doors.

“The complete opaqueness of these proceedings raises major doubts about the accusations against Roman Sushchenko,” said Johann Bihr, the head of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk at Reporters Without Borders (RSF). “It is all the more unacceptable because he has already spent two years in detention. If the Russian authorities still cannot produce credible proof of this journalist’s guilt, it is high time for them to free him.”

Russia is ranked 148th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.