
16
Dec 2019
Lvl. 1
State replied
Alert created on: 27 Sep 2019
n° 117/2019
Ukraine
Reporters Michael Colborne and Oleksiy Kuzmenko Threatened and Harassed
Source of threatNon-state
CategoryHarassment and intimidation of journalists
Bellingcat journalists Michael Colborne and Oleksiy Kuzmenko have been harassed online, including with death threats, in connection with their reporting on far-right groups in Ukraine.
Mid-August 2019, a threatening video appeared on a far-right Telegram channel that promotes the Christchurch shooter's manifesto. The video featured the photographs of Michael Colborne, Oleksiy Kuzmenko and fellow journalists Dmitry Gordon and Valerie Kipnis, being shot one by one with a firearm. It was posted with the following message: “This video is kind of an instruction manual on how to deal with our enemies.” Michael Colborne's photograph showed him as he was beaten up while covering an anti-LGBT rally in Kyiv last November.
Early September, Oleksiy Kuzmenko received an anonymous e-mail containing a link to the video and death threats after he tweeted about a far-right festival held in Kyiv by the Azov movement. He received other insults and threats by various far-right groups.
Mid-August 2019, a threatening video appeared on a far-right Telegram channel that promotes the Christchurch shooter's manifesto. The video featured the photographs of Michael Colborne, Oleksiy Kuzmenko and fellow journalists Dmitry Gordon and Valerie Kipnis, being shot one by one with a firearm. It was posted with the following message: “This video is kind of an instruction manual on how to deal with our enemies.” Michael Colborne's photograph showed him as he was beaten up while covering an anti-LGBT rally in Kyiv last November.
Early September, Oleksiy Kuzmenko received an anonymous e-mail containing a link to the video and death threats after he tweeted about a far-right festival held in Kyiv by the Azov movement. He received other insults and threats by various far-right groups.
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