MOSCOW, January 22 (RAPSI) – A criminal case has been launched against Ukrainian investigator Andrey Prosnyak over prosecution of journalist Kirill Vyshinsky, the spokesperson of Russia’s Investigative Committee Svetlana Petrenko has stated. 

Prosnyak is charged with obstructing professional activity of journalists and illegal criminal prosecution, the statement reads.   

According to Russian investigators, Prosnyak has served Vyshinsky with treason charge papers. However, at the time of decision taking Ukrainian law enforcement authorities knew for a fact that articles, which, they alleged, encroached on the country’s information security, had been published both by third party authors and before Vyshinsky’s employment in the International Information Agency Rossiya Segodnya.

Moreover, these publications contain no signs endangering the security of Ukraine, and the prosecution of Vyshinsky is conducted in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Russian investigators claim.

Vyshinsky has been detained in Ukraine on treason charges.

Russia’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Tatiana Moskalkova has repeatedly requested international organizations including UN, Council of Europe and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to speak in defense of the Russian journalist. According to the ombudsman, the case against Vyshinsky and his detention are illegal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said that Vyshinsky was arrested and detained for his professional journalistic activities. He also called this policy of Ukrainian authorities unprecedented and inadmissible.