He was arrested in 1997 for filming illegal cross-border situation between Belarus and Lithuania on the charges of illegally crossing the border, obtaining money from foreign agencies, and conducting illegal journalistic activities. Sheremet and his cameraman Zavadsky were sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and 18 months’ imprisonment, respectively, but given suspended sentences and a “nominal” fine of $15 United States dollars.
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Sheremet also worked on a radio station Vesti, where he was due to host a show after leaving home Wednesday morning. Sheremet explained that he had taken the drastic step due to the pressure over his criticism of the Kremlin, and warnings Russian Federation was heading down the same authoritarian path as Belarus.
Sheremet rose to fame in 1999-2000, covering the war in Chechnya for Russian television.
It also underscores the dangers Ukrainian reporters face despite the former Soviet republic’s alliance with the West and historic break with Moscow in a 2014 pro-EU revolt.
He openly accused Russian Federation of illegally annexing Crimea and supporting pro-Moscow separatists battling government forces in Ukraine’s war-torn east.
Was another journalist the target? Five years ago, he moved to Kiev. “Putin’s goal is to conquer the whole of Ukraine”, he said in a number of Ukrainian talk shows. The vehicle belonged to his employer, the head of Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper, RT reported.
While working at Ukrainska Pravda, Sheremet investigated the role of Russian special services in Ukraine’s crisis in the east after the assassination of his friend Boris Nemstov, a Russian Opposition leader, last year.
“Our deepest condolences to the staff at Ukrainska Pravda and to all who knew and loved Pavel”. Pavel Sheremet, 44-year old Belarusian-born prominent journalist has been killed in a auto bombing in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, Wednesday.
Outside that conflict, the most-recent killing of a journalist in Ukraine came in April 2015, when a writer who backed ousted-President Viktor Yanukovych was shot dead in Kiev. Following Sheremet’s killing, the Ukrainian government has offered Prytula police protection.
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“Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly promised to prosecute and prevent attacks on journalists”, Denber said. Then there was a long period of relative calm. “Sheremet has become a new victim of the system, which has developed in that country”, the statement said.
