Roman Volodymyrovych Sushchenko (, born 8 February 1969) is a
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* Som ...
journalist and artist. He was arrested in Russia on spying charges in 2016 and sentenced in 2018; his detention and sentence have been criticized by a number of Ukrainian and international agencies. Sushchenko was released in September 2019.
Career
Sushchenko was born on 8 February 1969 in
Cherkasy
Cherkasy ( uk, Черка́си, ) is a city in central Ukraine. Cherkasy is the capital of Cherkasy Oblast (province), as well as the administrative center of Cherkasky Raion (district) within the oblast. The city has a population of
Che ...
. He started his career in journalism in Ukraine in 2002 working for the
Ukrinform
The National News Agency of Ukraine ( uk, Українське національне інформаційне агентство), or Ukrinform ( uk, Укрінформ), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of U ...
, Ukraine's state news agency. From 2010 he worked in France, where he was a vocal critic of
Russian propaganda
The propaganda of the Russian Federation promotes views, perceptions or agendas of the government of Russia. The media include state-run outlets and online technologies, and may involve using "Soviet-style 'active measures' as an element of m ...
.
He is also an artist. His works have been displayed in Ukraine, Poland and France, among other countries.
Detention
On September 30, 2016, he was arrested in Moscow on charges of espionage and detained in the Lefortovo Prison. Russia's
Federal Security Service
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...
. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense refuted this claim and Sushchenko himself denied the charges. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also protested against the arrest, calling it "another step in the purposeful policy of the Russian Federation to use Ukrainians, who are in the hands of the authorities, as political hostages in its hybrid aggression against our country." After two years in detention, on June 4, 2018, the Moscow City Court found Sushchenko guilty of spying and sentenced him to 12 years in a maximum security prison. He is serving his sentence in the Penal Colony No. 11 (IK-11). Ukrainian President
Petro Poroshenko
Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko ( uk, Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко, ; born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko se ...
condemned the verdict, stating it is based on false charges, and awarded Sushchenko the Ukrainian Order For Courage 3rd Class.
Sushchenko stated that he was subjected to psychological torture. Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner
Shortly before his verdict was announced, Sushchenko won the Ukrainian Ihor Lubchenko prize for defending freedom of speech. French journalist
Galia Ackerman
Galina Ackerman or usually Galia Ackerman () (born 1948) is a French-Russian writer, historian, journalist, translator, researcher at the University of Caen, specializing on Ukraine and Post-Soviet states. She was also a translator for slain Rus ...
has also criticized the arrest of Sushchenko. Ukrinform has protested against the arrest of their employee.
PEN America
PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression in the United States and worldwide through the advancement of liter ...
has described Sushchenko's detention and classified him as one of the "writers at risk". His case has also been described by the
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journ ...
, an organization which criticized Russian authorities for failing to back up their allegations with "a shred of evidence". The
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
has called for his release, as did the
National Union of Journalists of Ukraine
The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU; uk, Національна спілка журналістів України, Natsionalna spilka zhurnalistiv Ukrainy, НСЖУ) is a public organization uniting professional creative workers, ...
, the , the
International Federation of Journalists
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the largest global union federation of journalists' trade unions in the world. It represents more than 600,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries.
The IFJ is an associate m ...
and the
European Federation of Journalists
The European Federation of Journalists is the European regional organisation of the International Federation of Journalists. It is the largest organisation of journalists in Europe, representing about 320,000 journalists in 71 journalists’ organ ...
.
On 16 March 2018 the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adop ...
named 30 Ukrainian citizens (including Sushchenko) who it considers illegally detained or imprisoned in Russia, and called for their release. The
Sejm of Poland
The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...
adopted a resolution on 15 June 2018 demanding the release of Ukrainians imprisoned in Russia for political reasons. In the resolution, deputies demand, in particular, to release
Oleh Sentsov
Oleh Hennadiiovych SentsovNosorih (Rhino) labiennale.org ...
, Oleksandr Kolchenko, and Roman Sushchenko.
In February 2019, the Ukrainian Ministry of Information Policy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs nominated Sushchenko and another Ukrainian journalist, Mykola Semena, also arrested and sentenced by Russia in a way the Ukrainian government finds illegal, for the
UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize
The UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, created in 1997, honours a person, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially when ...
.
Release
Roman Sushchenko was released with swap between Russia and Ukraine, 35 prisoners to 35, on September 7, 2019. When plane with 35 freed Ukrainians landed in Kyiv, they were met by president
Volodymyr Zelensky
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...