Prosecutor’s office in regions to assist journalists in defense of their rights

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In 21 regions of Ukraine, prosecutor’s offices officials met with regional representatives of the Institute of Mass Information and journalists: the prosecutor's office assured that it would be attentive to complaints filed by the journalists about obstruction to journalists and protect their rights. This was reported by regional representatives of IMI.

The meetings took place in the following regions: Sumy, Chernihiv, Odessa, Zaporizhzhya, Uzhhorod, Mykolaiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Lutsk, Luhansk, Ternopil, Kyiv, Kyiv region, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kropyvnytskyi, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Kherson, Vinnytsia, Rivne, Mariupol. The parties reached a number of agreements.

The Prosecutor's Office of Zaporizhzhya region will check the entire register of  complaints about facts of obstruction of the professional activities of journalists who had been sent to the police and were registered in the Unified Accounting Journal from the beginning of 2021. 

The Odessa regional prosecutor's office will check the progress of investigations into cases of obstruction of journalistic activity since several last years. 

There are no such cases in Sumy, but prosecutors promise to invite journalists and representatives of public organizations to an interagency group.

In Chernihiv, law enforcement officials promised to develop an algorithm for police officers in situations where media representatives are not allowed to attend local council meetings, and to conduct outreach work with the police.

The Transcarpathian Regional Prosecutor's Office has set up an interagency working group to respond effectively to crimes against the professional rights of media representatives.

In Mykolaiv the deputy head of regional prosecutor's office Artur Ogannisyan reported about setting up of interdepartmental working group.

The representative of IMI in Cherkasy region Zakhar Kolisnichenko during a meeting with the prosecutor's office noted that the real sentences for those guilty of violating the rights of journalists is the best prevention of such violations. The cases and the progress of their investigation were discussed.

On May 31, the heads of the Zhytomyr region Prosecutor's Office discussed with IMI regional representative Oksana Trokoz how to prevent violations of journalists' rights and ensure unhindered and safe work for media outlets.

Volyn and Ternopil regional prosecutor's offices invited the regional IMI representatives in meetings of interdepartmental working groups to investigate crimes against journalists.

As IMI reported, the Institute of Mass Information provided the Office of the Prosecutor General with a list of violations of journalists' rights for investigation and proposed to form a working group to achieve more progress of such investigations. The PGO has expressed its willingness to contribute to the investigations of the crimes against journalists.

The Prosecutor General's Office will set up a working group with relevant NGOs and mass media to investigate crimes against journalists, as this was reported on May 25 on the website of the Prosecutor General's Office following the meeting of Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova with representatives of non-governmental organizations and the media to countering criminal offenses against journalists.