London – In the latest episode of press censorship on the war in Ukraine, Matilde Kimer, a journalist on the Danish public network DR, had her authority to report on the forefront of the conflict revoked by the Security Service of Ukraine on the grounds that she was “biased”. Promoting Russia and violating travel rules.”
A veteran war correspondent, Kimer has worked for DR since 2009 and has covered conflicts in several countries, including Russia, which in August banned him from entering the country for 10 years. Nominated for the Journalism Award. Cavling is Denmark’s highest honor for his work in Ukraine and has received numerous awards for his work.
The suspension of the journalist’s identity was announced by DR, after months of failure to reverse the measure.
Officials of the Ukrainian security service, who were responsible for revoking the accreditation certificate, even suggested that it present “good news” as a condition for re-accreditation.
In an interview with the newspaper Politiken, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Denmark, Vydoinyk Mykhailo said Kimer was acting “manipulative” because he was allowed to work in Ukraine outside of war zones.
The problem is that almost the entire country has become a battlefield, which practically hinders the job of the journalist.
Journalists censored in Ukraine
Although the world press is more sympathetic to the occupied country than Russia, this is not Ukraine’s first reaction to the press.
The credentials of Sky News and CNN teams that were live-streaming the Kherson retake have been suspended.
Also read | Ukraine revokes credentials of CNN and Sky News teams that covered Kherson’s release
But Matilde Kimer’s case was not about a specific story or news.
He has been living in Russia since 2020, and even his phone calls from Ukraine to the country have been cited by security service officials (SBU) as alleged proof of his ties to the Russian government.
The pressure on the journalist came under Kimer’s decision on 22 August. received an e-mail from the agency announcing that press accreditation for war zones has been revoked.
In an interview with Journalisten, the journal of the Danish Journalists’ Union, he said he thought it was a misunderstanding and had spent a month talking to security officials to clarify the situation.
The Danish authorities got involved and there was little breakthrough, but the talks were delayed due to the bombings in Ukraine.
On December 8, the final position came. at a meeting with the help ofAt the Security Service office of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kiev, Matilde Kimer was informed that this was not a mistake.
He would be biased for the SBU, making Russian propaganda, and perhaps even “working for the enemy”.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an SBU representative named Oleg told him that he had some personal social media posts on Facebook in May 2017 that included pictures of a military parade in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. . (DPR) showed Soviet traces, understood as “illegal Soviet propaganda”. This raised suspicions that he was “biased”.
Oleg also told Kimer that he would not be able to interview DPR officials unless he was “somehow related to them”.
The journalist and broadcaster denied the allegations and made the incident public. DR’s director of journalism, Sandy French finds the accusation against Matilde Kimer unfounded and unjustified:
“No one has covered more fair and more sober than the war in Ukraine, which has already been recognized and rewarded several times.
Kimer told CPJ that a Ukrainian official suggested he produce “good stories” about Ukraine to restore his reputation, but he refused:
I said to him, ‘Thank you very much for this offer, but as an independent journalist, I cannot report on something I have not witnessed, about people I have not spoken to’. “This is not journalism,” he said.
Then the meeting ended.”
He criticized freedom of the press in Ukraine, highlighting the gap between Danish standards and those of the Ukrainian security service.
‘A practice not befitting a democratic country’
“The Ukrainian authorities should immediately reinstate Matilde Kimer’s media accreditation and allow her to continue covering the war in Ukraine,” said Gypsy Guillén Kaiser, CPJ’s director of defense and communications.
“Independent media are vital to reporting on the conflict. Demanding “good” coverage to revoke or reinstate accreditation is unbecoming of a democratic country. Authorities must ensure that such incidents do not happen again.”
But Ukraine does not seem inclined to reconsider its position.
Vydoinyk Mykhailo, the Ukrainian ambassador to Denmark, who was present at the meeting at the SBU, denied that there was any pressure or limitation on Matilde Kilmer’s journalistic activities in an interview with the Politiken newspaper.
He said the country “only wants journalists to play by its rules”.
Also read | War in Ukraine: Portraits of Suffering and Forced Migration Wins Photojournalist Award
Mykhailo told Politiken that Kimer had violated Ukraine travel rules three times, the first time being seven years ago.
It referred to allegations of unauthorized travel to Russian-occupied Crimea in March 2015, Donbass in 2016-2017, and Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine in July 2022.
Kimer said he visited Crimea before Ukraine adopted the new rules for entry to the peninsula and told CPJ that he did not enter the Donbas from Russia in 2016-2017.
He explained that he went to Mykolaiv without the necessary permission because he didn’t know he needed it and the situation was resolved quickly.
But the ambassador put diplomacy aside and was harsh, calling the journalist manipulative.
“The only thing was that the Ministry of Defense canceled its military accreditation, so it could not go to the front and report from there.
But he can easily work as a journalist in Ukraine. […]. That’s why he wasn’t excluded, and that’s why it’s manipulation to say he was excluded.”
Kimer disagrees, noting that Ukraine is in a situation. emergency military:
“Military rules apply to the entire country. You cannot travel as a foreigner without showing that you have accreditation. You cannot approach an office.
There are also a lot of ordinary people who want to make sure you have accreditation and that your work is approved.”
Despite helping to organize the meeting, the Danish government is handling the case with caution. To the new State Department DR, Lars Løkke Rasmussen assures that his predecessor has done everything in his power to resolve the case and has promised to continue to support it.
Our task is to emphasize to the Ukrainian authorities that we highly value freedom of the press.”
Rasmussen thought that Ukraine was in a special situation, but it is still important for the free press to work so that the Danes can get an idea of what was going on in the war.
“As far as I know, we have a journalist whose journalistic integrity has not been questioned. So we have to wait and believe that this will be enough to convince the Ukrainian authorities.”
Private journalist covering the war in Ukraine
In a report by DR, the head of foreign affairs, Niels Kvale, regretted that the talented professional, who had more experience in Ukraine and had accumulated 14 years of work in the country and mastered the local language, could not continue his work without limits.
Tine Johansen, president of the Danish Journalists’ Association, called the annulment of Matilde Kimer’s identity document “outrageous”.
“As a world community, we need to have eyes and ears on the field. We need enough news about what’s going on in these historical events.
A qualified journalist is an obstacle to our right to be informed and to the freedom of the press. rejected Like this.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists said it sent emails to the SBU, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and the Ukrainian embassy in Denmark, but received no response.
After Matilde Kimer met with Ukraine’s security service, the DR network handed the authorities a USB stick with 10 reports from 2022 and asked them to assess whether they found these reports biased.
“I believe DR is still hopeful that reason will prevail and that I will get accreditation so that I can return to work in Ukraine and document this conflict that I have followed since 2014,” Matilde Kimer told União de Jornalistas magazine.
Also read | Italian journalists attacked by Russian soldiers in Ukraine, watch video
source: Noticias
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.