UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

22 July 2016 – The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom today denounced the killing of award-winning journalist Pavel Sheremet and urged the authorities to bring those responsible for the crime to justice.

“I condemn the murder of Pavel Sheremet,” Irina Bokova, the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said in a statement.

“I call on the authorities to spare no effort in investigating this crime. In the interest of freedom of expression and freedom of information, it is important that those responsible for the killing of Pavel Sheremet be brought to justice,” she added.

Mr. Sheremet, who worked for popular news website Ukrayinska Pravda and hosted a news programme on Radio Vesti, was killed in a car bomb in the Ukranian capital, Kiev, on 20 July. He had won journalism awards from the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

UNESCO's chief regularly issues statements on the killing of media workers in line with Resolution 29 adopted by UNESCO Member States in 1997, entitled “Condemnation of Violence against Journalists.”

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