Journalists at risk in Crimea

On 9 March, photographer Oles Kromplyas, journalist Olena Maksymenko and their driver Eugene Rakhno disappeared after being stopped at a checkpoint, reportedly manned by riot police officers and armed, plain clothed masked men without any identifiable insignia. The armed men, who claimed to be from Crimea’s “self-defense” forces, had guns and knives. Their colleague, journalist Oleksiy Byk, was in a separate vehicle with his brother, a resident of Crimea.
Oleksiy Byk told Amnesty International that he also saw two women kneeling in front of their car with their hands tied. Surrounded by piles of clothing, papers and notebooks, the women were crying. Oleksiy Byk said he could hear the armed men threatening them. The women were later identified by their car license plate as Oleksandra Ryazantseva and Kateryna Butko, both AutoMaydan activists from the Kiev-based group that organized automobile protest actions during the EuroMaydan demonstrations. Kateryna Butko is the group’s press secretary and Oleksiy Byk said he saw that she was wearing a press badge identifying her as a journalist. At 4pm Oleksiy Byk and his brother were allowed to leave, due to the brother’s residency in Crimea. When they returned 30 minutes later their colleagues’ car and the armed men were gone. However Oleksiy Byk said he could still see the two women kneeling, still with their hands tied, in front of a military tent in the distance. Oleksiy Byk and his brother left and immediately contacted Ukrainian media.
On Tuesday 12 March, at around 5pm local time, there were reports from Crimea that Oles Kromplyas, Olena Maksymenko, Eugene Rakhno, Oleksandra Ryazantseva and Kateryna Butko had been released.