President of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Philippe Leruth has commented on the decision of the Kherson court to extend the arrest of the head of the RIA Novosti Ukraine portal, Kirill Vyshinsky, calling this decision unacceptable and demanding immediate release of the journalist

President of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Philippe Leruth has commented on the decision of the Kherson court to extend the arrest of the head of the RIA Novosti Ukraine portal, Kirill Vyshinsky, calling this decision unacceptable and demanding immediate release of the journalist.

On Thursday, a Ukrainian court ruled to prolong Vyshinsky’s detention by another 60 days. The journalist’s lawyer said the defense team would appeal this decision.

“Kyryll Vyshinsky’s prolonged detention is unacceptable, as he was obviously arrested for no other reason then doing his job as a journalist. We can’t help see this as a form of censorship, which is contrary to democracy, as press freedom is a key value of democracy.

The IFJ requests his immediate release,” Leruth told Sputnik.

Vyshinsky has been under arrest in Ukraine for over 110 days on charges of treason and supporting the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine’s embattled Donbas region.

The detention of Vyshinsky has prompted widespread criticism by journalists rights groups which said that such moves were unacceptable in a democratic society.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Vyshinsky’s arrest was politically motivated, adding that the incident demonstrated an unprecedented and unacceptable policy of Ukrainian authorities targeting journalists who were just doing their jobs.