In February 2015 I went to Ukraine for a report on the war in the Donbass. Regularly accredited with the Ministry of the Interior of the Kiev government, using the so-called ATO card, I headed to the front area.
After a few days spent on the government side, I decided to move to the separatist side; to do this I got on a regular bus and after having passed 3 without problems check point managed by Ukrainian and 4 soldiers run by separatist militias have finally arrived in Donetsk.
After two days in Donetsk I was arrested by the DNR security forces as I was found operating without the accreditation documents issued by their authorities and taken to the base of the Vostok battalion. After making sure that I was not a spy, I was released with an invitation to provide myself with the necessary documentation to continue to operate in the territory they administer, which I promptly performed the next day.
In the following days I crossed the border between the two administrations twice in both cases without any consequences.
The publication of the list with the names of the journalists accredited by the DNR (v. article on repubblica.it) is a reckless act as well as illegal in that it harms the privacy of information operators.
Furthermore, defining journalists as "terrorist collaborators" denotes a total disregard for the freedom of the press and deserves a defamation complaint from all the press organs involved.
Beyond this reprehensible episode there is finally to say that many of those journalists included in the list, myself included, are banned from Ukrainian soil for periods ranging from 3 to 5 years with consequent damage to their profession.
I hope that as soon as possible the European Union will take measures against the Kiev government at least with a request for clarification.
Giorgio Bianchi
Dear Giorgio, not even on purpose, I read your letter after having just interviewed the Ukrainian ambassador in Rome. His, as you will read shortly, were words of praise to Ukraine in terms of democracy and freedom. I hope that the Ukrainian government will soon evaluate the very serious own goal and retrace its steps.
Andrea Cucco
(photo: Giorgio Bianchi)
