GLASNOST DEFENSE FOUNDATION'S DIGEST No. 178 (April 12, 2004)

Ukraine - Autonomous Crimean Republic. GDF's Ukrainian Office opened in Simferopol.

The Glasnost Defense Foundation's first ever correspondent office in Ukraine was opened at a presentation in Simferopol's Press Center on April 9. The office head, journalist Mark Agatov, told the audience a few things about the GDF history and briefly described the Foundation's development prospects and work plans.

The ceremony was attended by heads of professional journalistic associations and human rights organizations, as well as more than 30 journalists representing Crimean, Ukrainian and Russian media.

The presentation was followed by a news conference that focused on ways of defending the rights of journalists persecuted by both authorities and extremist organizations. Special attention was given to the recent assault in Simeyiz by a group of extremists on the filming crews of Russia's Channel One and Ukraine's Inter TV Company, and its coverage by the Russian and Ukrainian press.

Crimean journalists voiced their support for Mark Agatov's initiative to request that the GDF President Alexei Simonov nominate the journalists Vadim Telichev and Denis Pogorelov for the Andrei Sakharov Prize "For Journalism As A Deed" for their TV report on the Simeyiz events shown on Channel One.

The new GDF office in Ukraine will begin by sending video documents about the violent assault on TV journalists in Simeyiz to the Presidents of Ukraine and Russia. Video evidence of the violent action will also be posted on the GDF web site at http://www.compromat-crimea.kiev.ua/ with links to this site to be sent to all professional journalistic and human rights organizations in Russia, Ukraine, Western Europe, and the United States.