Ukrainian freedom of speech: journalist killed in a blast in the central Kyiv

Well-known journalist Pavel Sheremet killed in a car blast in the center of Kyiv.

Pavel Sheremet, prominent Russian journalist & highly critical of Putin was killed in a car blast in Kyiv |EMPR pic.twitter.com/zHgBvqRXfk

— Euromaidan PR (@EuromaidanPR) July 20, 2016

Grave times is coming for Ukrainian freedom of speech. At 7:45 a.m. Pavel Sheremet’s car blasted in several dozens meters from his house at the central Kyiv at the corner of Bogdana Khmelmytskogo Str.  and Ivana Franko Str.

Photo: EMPR

Pavel Sheremet was a Belarusian journalist who was imprisoned in 1997 for his profesional activity and political position. The New York Times decsribes him as a journalist who was “known for his crusading reports about political abuses in Belarus and a thorn in the side of Lukashenko’s autocratic government“. He was forces to leave Belarus and moved to Russia, where succed in hosting the top rating TV News on Channel One Russia (ORT). After a while, he left and this cute post, saying that journalists who diverged from Kremlin propaganda were “hounded”.

Photo from pravda.com.ua

 For the last 5 years Pavel Sheremet worked in Ukrainie as a journalist for rating internet media Ukrainska Pravda as well as TV host for various political projects.

Photo: EMPR

After almost 5 hours, road is closed, police and emergency services are working on the spot. Hundreds of journalists are coming. Ukrainian Police head Khatiya Dekanoidze, Minister of Internal Affairs advisor Zoryan Shrikyak and many other top officials attend this horrible place.

In particular, in the car of journalist Pavel Sheremet, according to preliminary information, improvised bomb exploded capacity from 0.4 to 0.6 kg of trotyl, Zoryan Shkiryak says.

Later on, Interior Ministry of Ukraine Arsen Avakov states that this terrible murder of journalist aims to destabilize the country.

Indeed, this accident makes every journalist in Ukraine worry about tomorrow. This is really alarming signal. Freedom of speech is hunted in Ukraine nowadays.

EMPR