OSCE representative condemns steps aimed at full silencing of Chernomorskaya TV in Crimea

VIENNA, 4 August 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned the seizure of the property of the Chernomorskaya company, the largest independent broadcaster on the Crimean peninsula.

“Continuing attempts to put pressure on the independent media in Crimea which provide space for critical voices is a clear sign of censorship and cannot be tolerated under any circumstances,” Mijatović said. “This creates an atmosphere of fear in which independent journalism cannot exist.”

On 1 August representatives of the Russian federal bailiff service, accompanied by self-defence militants, seized Chernomorskaya’s property in Simferopol, citing debts owed to the Broadcasting Centre of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. All employees were banned from entering the channel’s premises.

Mijatović said that while arresting the Chernomorskaya’s property, the bailiffs also seized the equipment of the Information and Press Centre, a hub for independent media in the region, as well as property of the Crimean Centre for Investigative Journalism, which rented office space there.

“I again call on those responsible in the Crimean peninsula to refrain from steps that further endanger media freedom and seriously limit media pluralism,” Mijatović said.

Chernomorskaya’s terrestrial broadcasting was cut off in early March and replaced with the channel Rossiya 24 (//www.osce.org/fom/116240). At the end of June, the channel was also taken off major cable networks in Crimea, along with a number of Ukrainian channels (//www.osce.org/fom/121169).