Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project tracks press freedom violations in five countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Learn more.
TV crew assaulted while reporting on illegal logging in Kharkiv region
28 August 2018 — Unknown individuals attacked a 112-Ukraine TV crew, which was reporting on illegal logging and theft of wood in the village Zolochiv, in the Kharkiv region, 112-Ukraine TV channel reported.
A group of men blocked the journalists’ car and struck its wheels, threatening the journalists with physical violence. A TV reporter called the police, who arrived, but did not intervene. Journalist Oleg Reshetnyak went on the air, described the situation, but the assaulters noticed this and took the camera during the live broadcast.
Reshetnyak was beaten during the assault. An ambulance was called to him.
UPDATE: 29 August 2019 — Police detained 49 individuals suspected of assaulting a television crew, Kharkiv region police reported.
“A conflict between security guards and journalists arose during the shooting of the video. Security guards blocked the car, tried to seize the camcorder and injured a journalist,” the Kharkiv region police press service reported.
One of the most active individuals is suspected of “obstruction of legitimate professional activity of journalists.” Two more individuals have been detained on suspicion of “threatening or abusing a journalist.”
According to police, private guards working for the logging company used violence, blocked the TV crew’s car, tried to seize the camcorder and injured the journalist. The journalist received multiple injuries to their back and kidneys, as well as bruises on their face.
Categories: Blocked Access, Physical Assault/Injury, Attack to Property, Intimidation
Source of violation: Known private individual(s)
TV correspondent harassed at nationalist rally
24 August 2019 — Nash/Maxi TV journalist Bogdan Karabyniosh was harassed on-air by unknown individuals at a nationalist march in Kyiv, Detector Media reported.
During a live broadcast, participants in the march people called the channel pro-Russian, shouted the name of the owner of the channel, Volodymyr Murayev, and Vladimir Putin. Afterwards, the unknown individuals called on the journalist to leave and not interfere with the rally. The journalist considered such actions as obstruction of his journalistic activity.
20 August 2019 — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s Chief of Staff Andriy Bohdan filed the lawsuit in the Shevchenko District Court of Kyiv against three journalists from Schemes, an investigative program that’s a joint production of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and public broadcaster UA:Pershyi. The three journalists are Nataliya Sedletska, Valeria Yegoshina, and Maksym Savchuk, Kyivpost reported.
The details of the lawsuit are currently unavailable, so it is unclear which of Schemes’ reports about the presidential aide Bohdan found defamatory.
“At this point, we have not received the text of Bohdan’s lawsuit. Therefore, we cannot comment on it,” the editorial board of Schemes wrote on Twitter on Aug. 21. “We are confident that the information we publish is reliable and are ready for the trial.”
Bohdan is a former lawyer whose most famous client was oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. After Zelenskiy’s victory in the presidential election, Bohdan was appointed his chief of staff, heightening concerns over Kolomoisky’s suspected influence on the new president.
Schemes did several investigations into Bohdan. One of them revealed his multiple trips to Tel Aviv, where Kolomoisky resided at the time, while the lawyer was de facto running Zelensky’s election campaign. The show also reported on his secret meeting with the then-head of the constitutional court.
In an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda published on April 25, Bohdan said he was preparing to sue Schemes’ journalists for spreading false information that he had taken 11 flights to Russia, six of which were through Belarus. However, the journalists never reported that. In their investigation, they said Bohdan had made three trips to Russia since 2014 and crossed the Belarusian border 11 times “in an unknown direction during 2018-2019.”
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Drunk man assaults local TV crew
16 August 2019 — A drunk patron of a shop assaulted members of a TV crew from a regional TV station in Mariupol, Mariupol News reported. The name of the TV channel and the names of journalists were not disclosed.
The individual hit the cameraman and damaged a video camera, the local police press service reported. Journalists filed a complaint to the police. The officers found the offender, who turned out to be a 44-year-old resident of Mariupol.
The incident was investigated as an “obstruction of the legitimate professional activities of journalists”, which is punishable with up to three years in prison.
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury, Attack to Property
Source of violation: Known private individual(s)
MP calls journalist “a stupid sheep”
18 August 2019 — Maxim Buzhansky, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, who belongs to president Volodymyr Zelensky’s political party, called Olga Dukhnich, a journalist working for Novoe Vremya (New Time) “a stupid sheep”, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.
“Another stupid sheep who is a journalist for the odious media Novoe Vremya said in an interview with a representative of Servant of the People political party that I was nostalgic for the USSR and president Yanukovych’s times. I understand that some colleagues are too restrained to call things by their names, so I will help them. A stupid sheep from the odious media,” Buzhanskiy posted on his Telegram public channel.
In response, Dukhnich posted on Facebook that “to answer to Mr. Buzhansky is like trying to figure out a relationship with a pigeon that shit on your coat sleeve.” The journalist called on the politician to apologise to Novoe Vremya, which is a weekly magazine.
In an interview with the leader of Servant of the People, Dmytro Razumkov, Dukhnich said that Buzhanskiy was “nostalgic for the USSR and Viktor Yanukovych’s time.” Razumkov, for his part, said the MPs should be judged for the current and future acts.
In July 2019, parliamentary elections were held. Servant of the People Zelensky’s party gained more than 43 percent of the vote.
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Court leaves journalist under house arrest
15 August 2019 — The Korolyovsky District Court of Zhytomyr ruled that journalist and blogger Vasyl Muravitsky should remain under house arrest until 12 October 2019, Ukrinform news agency reported.
Prosecutor Vadym Levchenko filed a motion to change Muravitsky’s pre-trial detention from 24-hour house arrest to remand in custody. According to the prosecutor, there were risks that Muravitsky may hide or commit similar crimes by “writing publications on anti-Ukrainian topics.”
The journalist’s lawyer, Svitlana Novitska, insisted on changing the measure of restraint on personal commitment or bail, instead of house arrest.
At a court hearing the prosecutor read out Muravitsky’s correspondence with other individuals, in which publications, various Ukrainian politicians, the organisation of a press conference and fees were mentioned. In addition, the prosecutor provided a disk with screenshots of Muravitsky’s correspondence on Facebook, Telegram, Skype, as well as the e-mails.
The lawyer noted that such evidence is clearly inadmissible and is an interference with the private correspondence of her client. The prosecutor replied that the investigating judge allowed him to examine the journalist’s correspondence. The court took into consideration the evidence provided by the prosecution, Ukrinform reported.
On 2 August 2017, Muravitsky was arrested on suspicion of treason and undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine because he worked for Russian news agencies. Until June 27 2018, the journalist was in custody, after which the court changed the preventive measure to house arrest.
On 6 August 2018, after the court hearing in Zhytomyr, activists from neo-Nazi C14 group splashed Muravitsky with the dye brilliant green as he left the building. (Known as ‘zelenka’, this dye was widely used as an antiseptic during the Soviet period but is now increasingly used in attacks against dissidents and political opponents in Russia and Ukraine, where it is still readily available. It is extremely difficult to wash off the skin, and though not as corrosive as most acids, it can cause chemical burns.)
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Man harasses TV crew in Odessa
8 August 2019 — An unidentified person interfered with and harassed a Dumskaya TV crew in a casino, Dumskaya.net reported.
The individual began to threaten the news crew when they learned that a live broadcast was in progress. “If I see myself on the TV screen, you will have a lot of trouble,” the man said to a female journalist who wanted to talk about possible gambling legislation.
The individual forcibly took the camera from the cameraman. The crew’s equipment was damaged as a result of the incident.
The journalists filed a complaint with the police.
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury, Attack to Property, Intimidation
Source of violation: Unknown
MP called to attack pro-Russian TV channels with anti-tank missile
12 August 2019 — Appearing on Pryamiy TV, People’s Front MP Serhiy Vysotsky said pro-Russian television channels should be blown up with an anti-tank missile, Strana.ua reported.
“These channels that we are talking about, they work against Ukraine — in favor of the enemy, all the journalists who work there — they are combatants of the Russian Federation. And what should be done with them is to blow them up with an anti-tank guided missile, that is, to close them,” Vysotsky said during a talk show.
The head of the National Union of Journalists, Serhiy Tomilenko, commented that the deputy’s appeal was an incitement to hostility which is criminalised in Ukraine.
“With anxiety I note the escalation of pressure on the TV channel. I hope that the new government will find the strength to preserve freedom of expression, to stop the pressure and to ensure the right of journalists to the profession,” the Channel 112 Ukraine CEO Yehor Benkendorf said.
On July 13 2019, the main office of TV Channel 112 Ukraine was attacked with a rocket-propelled grenade in Kyiv. The police still haven’t found the offenders.
During the parliamentary elections of 2019, Vysotsky ran for European Solidarity political party of the ex-president Poroshenko, but was not elected.
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Court rules against independent TV channel
6 August 2019 — The commercial court of Kyiv granted far right groupC14’s claim against Hromadske TV, Hromadske reported.
C14 filed a lawsuit against Hromadske TV “on the protection of honour, dignity and business reputation” in July 2018. One of the documents in the statement of claim featured a copy of a tweet posted to the Twitter of the media organization’s English-language service Hromadske International, which describes C14 as a “neo-Nazi group”. The tweet was posted on May 4 2018, when representatives of C14 captured and forcefully took Brazilian militant Rafael Lusvarghi to Ukraine’s Security Service.
The court noted that the information circulated by Hromadske in May 2018 “harms the reputation” of C14 and ordered Hromadske to refute the information and pay 3,500UAH ($136) in court fees to C14.
Olena Tchaikovska, the attorney for Hromadske TV, called the decision “incorrect and illegal.” “It introduces an egregious tendency that suppresses freedom of speech. We will appeal it,” she said.
“We are surprised by this decision. Not only does it contradict the judicial logic, but is also a dangerous precedent for other media and for freedom of speech in general,” editor-in-chief of Hromadske Angelina Karyakina said of the decision.
“The position of C14 is that they are not a neo-Nazi group in their activities or in the nature of their activities. They are a nationalist group, but they are by no means neo-Nazi,” said Victor Moroz, C14’s lawyer at a previous court hearing. According to Moroz, what Hromadske called the organisation harms the business reputation of C14.
Hromadske television defends its position and insisted that it did not commit any violations by characterising the organisation as “neo-Nazi.”
UPDATE:
7 August 2019 — A number of international human rights organisations have criticised the decision of the commercial court of Kyiv, the Institute of Mass Information reported.
Freedom House Ukraine qualified this decision as a dangerous precedent of interference with freedom of opinion and expression in Ukraine. “C14 can contest/deny Hromadske’s characterisation but it is the right of the media to publish their view, in good faith, based on the information they gathered” on C14 and its members, “many of whom declared that they joined the group because of its neo-Nazi orientation”, Matthew Shaaf, director of Freedom House Ukraine said on. Shaaf believes an increase in self-censorship among media in Ukraine could be the most pernicious impact of ruling against Hromadske for calling C14 neo-Nazi.
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Local TV crew assaulted
1 August 2019 – A Kapri TV crew was assaulted by unidentified individuals and a political aid of a parliamentary candidate in Pokrovsk Donetsk region, the Institute of Mass Information reported.
As a result of the assault, the cameraman received a concussion, his camera and mobile phone belong to journalist Alyona Sobolenko were damaged.
According to Sobolenko, Vitalii Verbicky, a political aide working for MP candidate Ruslan Trebushkin, broke her smartphone after snatching it from her hands as she attempted to enter the building. Verbicky then forcefully shoved the cameraman into the building where a meeting of the members of the district election commission and the city leadership was taking place.
The journalists had gone to the offices to investigate why the election commission members were not engaged in recounting a local vote, but instead were meeting with Trebushkin himself behind closed doors.
Once in the building the cameraman reported he was assaulted and his camera was broken. The individuals also destroyed the memory card containing video, Sobolenko said. The cameraman said he was threatened with further violence and that the men wanted to know if there were additional TV crews outside. The cameraman was prevented from leaving the building for half an hour.
Sobolenko, who remained in the parking lot, called the police to the scene of the incident. “The police did not arrive at once, I had to call three times, but the officers were in no hurry … We were very worried because we did not know what was going on behind closed doors in the room… We recorded the beating in the hospital, and today called an ambulance again because the cameraman had dizziness, he was diagnosed with a brain injury,” Sobolenko told IMI.
When the police finally arrived, they were prevented from accessing the building by a crowd of men, who blocked the entrance. Subsequently, the police called for reinforcements and freed the cameraman.
The journalists filed a complaint with the police. A criminal case was opened on the article “obstruction of journalists’ legal activities.”
Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project tracks press freedom violations in five countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Learn more.
30 July 2019 — Oksana Sokolova, a ICTV TV channel presenter, reported being followed by unknown persons, the Institute of Mass Information reported.
“Am I Being followed again? Recently, I noticed that every time I have a meeting at a cafe, a young man is seated at a nearby table and looks intently at the phone screen without ordering anything,” Sokolova was quoted as saying on the ICTV Facebook page. She said that she would not have paid attention to these situations if she hadn’t been trailed in the past. Sokolova was forced to take a personal guard due to phone threats in 2014. A criminal case was opened by the police and the individual making threats was identified.
“I didn’t think I would have to contact the authorities again,” the TV presenter said about the latest incidents. She told ICTV that the individuals following her in recently have all been different but they behave in the same way.
Sokolova said she intends to file a complaint with the police.
23 July 2019 — Pechersk District Court of Kyiv blocked access to Enigma.ua, a blogging platform and nearly 20 other websites, according to Detector Media.
In a statement, Enigma.ua, the site was blocked because of a published article that explored the connections between law enforcement and organised crime groups in targeting human rights defenders in the country. The court made its decision after a motion by prosecutors who are investigating a criminal case which the article addressed.
“We have already appealed to the lawyers and through court we will overturn this ruling and demand penalties for those who choose to block sites through a criminal case that has nothing to do with the resources and their owners,” said in a statement of Enigma.ua.
UPDATE: 2 August 2019 — An appeal was filed against the decision of the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv to block 18 information sites, IMI reported.
The interests of Enigma.ua website owner Volodymyr Pasika are represented by media lawyer Olexandr Burmahin, who is also the Human Rights Platform executive director. Digital Security Lab lawyers also joined to prepare the legal position in the case.
Burmahin said blocking of websites was a very dangerous precedent for freedom of speech and the dissemination of information online.
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Politician sues Novoe Vremya weekly magazine
30 July 2019 — Politician Viktor Medvedchuk, the head of the political party Opposition Platform – For Life, sued Novoe Vremya weekly magazine, NV.ua reported.
The case of “protection of honour, dignity and business reputation and refutation of false information” will be considered by the Podil district court of Kyiv. The editorial board said it doesn’t have information which article prompted the politicians lawsuit.
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Press center attacked by far right activists, five people injured
30 July 2019 — About a dozen right-wing activists from Tradition and Order, a nationalist group, assaulted participants of a press conference and press center staff at the news agency Ukrinform in Kyiv, Hromadske reported.
The press conference was held by Serhiy Koshukov and Andriy Aksyonov, who are running for deputies in a single-member constituency number 50. At the beginning of the press conference, Koshukov said that about 500 votes had been stolen from him at the previous parliamentary election. After that, the press conference was interrupted by the attackers.
According to Interfax-Ukraine news agency, more than 10 people wearing t-shirts with “Tradition and Order” logos broke into the room. They smashed the glass in the room, broke the door, threw eggs at the press conference participants, poured water on those present at the press center, shouted “Down with the separatist Aksyonov.”
The far-rightists accused Aksyonov of being a citizen of the Russian Federation. Aksenov, in turn, claimed that he never had a Russian passport.
The police arrived about 20 minutes after the beginning of the assault. But the officers didn’t take any action, only observed what was happening, Interfax-Ukraine reported. In the presence of the police, the right-wing activists threw eggs at Aksyonov and unscrewed microphones. After that they left the premises shouting “Put Aksenov behind bars” and “Shame”. A police officer tried to draw up a protocol against one of them, but in response the far-rightist insulted the police and left.
According to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, five news agency employees asked for medical help as a result of the attack. Ukrinform employee Roman Hrabrov was assaulted from behind and roughly grabbed by the shoulder. Three far-rightists simultaneously assaulted press center employee Pavlo Negrey, beating him on his legs, back, face, head, and choking him. The assault left him with a trauma of his left eye and numerous bruises all over his body.
The names of other news agency staff affected by the attack were not disclosed.
According to preliminary estimates, material damage to Ukrinform press center exceeded 17,500 euro.
The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine condemned the brutal attack on the staff of the leading news agency, and demanded severe punishment for the assaulters.
UPDATE: 1 August 2019 — The Kyiv police called the incident at Ukrinform “hooliganism”, IMI reported. On 30 July two of the invaders were taken into police custody to testify. The police also took the records from the CCTV cameras, the National Police reported.
UPDATE: 2 August 2019 — President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said it was necessary to investigate and severely punish the people who took part in the assault on Ukrinform.
Categories:Physical Assault/Injury, Attack to Property
Source of violation: Unknown,
The Revizor cameraman assaulted
18 July 2019 — A cameraman working for The Revizor, a Noviy TV channel program, was assaulted by an unidentified person at the marketplace in Koblevo Mykolaiv region, IMI reported.
According to the police, the conflict arose between market traders and the TV crew during the filming. A man, dissatisfied with the fact that he was filmed, hit the cameraman in the face. The journalist, whose name wasn’t reported, fell to the ground, but after a medical examination, he refused to be hospitalized.
The police opened a criminal investigation under the articles “obstruction of journalists’ legal activities.”
The Revizor (auditor) – a teleproject on unexpected product quality checks.
TV building attacked with a rocket-propelled grenade
13 July 2019 – The main office of TV Channel 112 was attacked with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) in Kyiv around 3 am, the National Police reported.
The police were called to the scene at 3:40 am and discovered that the office building’s exterior had been damaged by an explosion. They found a grenade launcher at the scene. No fatalities or injuries had been reported, but the police classified the incident as an act of terrorism. They did not report having any suspects at the time.
According to TV Channel 112, the building’s security cameras recorded two unknown individuals at the scene of the attack. Kyiv police said they launched a search operation for the offenders.
A day before the attack Channel 112’s editorial board issued a statement calling on law enforcement agencies to protect them from “the arbitrariness of national radicals, who by intimidation and threats try to influence the editorial policy of the channel [and] force us to abandon world-wide broadcasting standards in favor of certain political interests”. The journalists reported receiving threats from right-wing organisations “recommending” that they stay at home on 13 July under threats of physical violence. A nationalist rally against the channel’s editorial policy was scheduled for 13 July.
Immediately after the attack, Channel 112 CEO Yehor Benkendorf appealed to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to condemn the incident. “You must state clearly and decisively that no one should use force against media in Ukraine,” Benkendorf said.
Channel 112 received a warning earlier last week from prosecutors over its plans to broadcast a documentary titled Revealing Ukraine by US filmmaker Oliver Stone, which included an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They linked the attack to the scheduled broadcast, and cancelled it, citing the decision of their international editorial board.
Channel 112 has come under pressure from nationalist groups since it was purchased last year by Taras Kozak, a close ally of controversial Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, often criticised for his pro-Russian views and ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is the godfather of his daughter. Kozak also owns the NewsOne and ZIK TV channels.
8 July 2019 – Kirill Malyshev, Strana.ua news online outlet correspondent, was assaulted by nationalists during protest rally near News One TV channel building in Kyiv, Strana.ua reported.
According to the journalist, the leader of C14 far-right group Yevhen Karas began to shout: “Here is a separatist! He is a Strana’s journalist.”
“Immediately afterwards, the protesters tried to attack me. But other activists defended me. Focus magazine’s journalist also stood up for me. This allowed me to gain time, and [during the] dialogue police brought me out of the crowd,” Malyshev said. Police officers then asked him to leave the rally “to avoid provocations.”
On 8 July nationalists protested against holding a teleconference with the Russian federal TV channel “Russia-24”. The rally was attended by right-wing organisations the National Guard, the National Corps and C14.
8 July 2019 — NewsOne TV channel’s journalists and their families received threats of physical violence after the announcement of a teleconference with the Russian state television channel Russia 24, NewsOne TV channel reported.
“The channel planned to organise the first non-political teleconference between people from Ukraine and Russia. Therefore, we believe that such actions against the TV channel return Ukraine in times of intimidation and pressure on journalistic freedoms,” NewsOne website stated. According to the statement, the TV channel cancelled the teleconference due to pressure on the channel.
On 8 July, right-wing radicals held a protest rally near the channel’s offices in opposition to the teleconference. The rally was attended by right-wing organisations the National Guard, the National Corps and C14. The editorial board of the channel regarded the action as pressure on its editorial independence.
On 8 July, the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky criticised the holding of a teleconference, calling it “a PR campaign before the election.” The general prosecutor’s office of Ukraine filed a proceeding on an attempt to commit a state betrayal by providing information support to subversion against Ukraine. The head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Ivan Bakanov, stated that he considers it absolutely unacceptable to organise a teleconference with “the main propaganda channel of the aggressor country.”
Source of violation: Unknown, Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Online news outlet journalist assaulted
2 July 2019 — Vladislav Bovtruk, an online news outlet Strana.ua journalist, was assaulted by nationalist activist Olexiy Tsymbalyuk during protest rally on Independence Square in Kyiv, Strana.ua reported.
The protest meeting was organised by associates of the ex-president Poroshenko and nationalists against registering politicians who are considered “pro-Russian” to take part in parliamentary elections.
According to Strana.ua, the journalist was hit in the face by one of the protesters. “The blow was so strong that I fell to the ground. After that, already lying down, they continued to kick me. I got up, and they poured water on me and started shouting ‘Have you enough? Do you want us to add?’. At that moment the police came and led me out of the crowd,” Bovtruk said. He filed a complaint with the police about the incident.
Later, the outlet reported that the assaulter was called Tsymbalyuk, who participated in the staged murder hoax of journalist and blogger Arkady Babchenko in 2018.
Head of the National Union of Journalists Serhiy Tomilenko commented that any meetings and political actions should be open to journalists of all media. “This aggression becomes possible, because in Ukrainian society a stereotype has been gained over the years – a journalist is a defenseless victim, an attack on him goes unpunished. We hope that the police will have enough professionalism to conduct an investigation,” Tomilenko said.
On 3 July, the police opened a criminal case into the attack on the journalist.
The majority of violations in Ukraine catalogued by Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project from 1 February to 30 June 2019 were categorised as physical assaults, attacks to property or blocked access. Most frequently, these actions were taken by agents of the state — whether law enforcement or other governmental structures.
The Monitoring and Advocacy for Media Freedom project has recorded 16 incidents in which journalists have been subjected to physical assaults, and 17 incidents in which journalists has their equipment and property damaged since February 2019, 4 of which are in both categories. The project’s numbers are corroborated by the National Union of Ukrainian Journalists (NSJU), which recorded 36 incidents targeting journalists since 1 January 2019, including physical assaults and attacks on property, as part of their Index of Physical Safety of Ukrainian Journalists.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-times” color=”black” background_style=”rounded” size=”xl” align=”right”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project documents, analyses, and publicises threats, limitations and violations related to media freedom in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, in order to identify possible opportunities for advancing media freedom in these countries. These limitations, threats and violations, affect journalists as they do their jobs, so the project’s staff advocate for greater press freedom in these countries and raise international awareness.
The project builds on Index on Censorship’s 4.5 years monitoring media freedom in 43 European countries, as part of Mapping Media Freedom platform.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Vadim Komarov murdered” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]The 20 June death of journalist and blogger Vadim Komarov is a severe and frightening example of the violence that Ukrainian journalists encounter in their work. Komarov was attacked with a hammer in the centre of Cherkasy on 4 May. His is the first recorded death of a journalist in Ukraine since the murder of Pavel Sheremet, whose car was blown up in 2016.
Komarov was struck in the head several times by an unidentified individual, in broad daylight, near the town’s busy central market. The assailant then fled. Komarov was found unconscious and bloodied by passers by, who called emergency services. According to the doctors who treated him, Komarov had suffered a grievous open head injury, and slipped into a coma shortly after surgery. He never regained consciousness.
Sergey Tomilenko wrote on Facebook that Komarov’s family and colleagues “don’t feel like there’s (the) necessary attention to this case.” The cause of the murder, said Tomilenko, was Komarov’s journalistic work. “The murder of Vadim Komarov is a crime against all journalists in general,” he wrote. Tomilenko called for solidarity among journalists, because “this topic is important for the survival of a journalist as a profession in Ukraine.”
The police were investigating Komarov’s attack as an “assassination attempt” prior to his death.
Komarov was known for his investigations of corruption among Cherkasy city authorities and the region’s prison system. The journalist had been assaulted in the past: on 7 September 2016, an unknown gunman shot at Komarov in Cherkasy, but the bullet missed him and hit a wall.
The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his deep sorrow following Komarov’s death. “I am deeply shocked by the death of Vadim Komarov, who was brutally attacked last month in Cherkasy and suffered from serious head injuries,” Désir said. “I reiterate my call to the Ukrainian authorities to complete the investigation in a vigorous and swift manner. It is regrettable that about one-and-a-half months after the attack, law enforcement has not yet identified the perpetrators nor reported any progress on the investigation. Violence and attacks against journalists are unacceptable and must stop. Impunity would be a victory for those who wanted to silence Komarov and to intimidate the press. All OSCE participating states should take effective and resolute actions to prevent and end impunity for such crimes.” [/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Aliya Zamchynska” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 20 June, Aliya Zamchynska, a correspondent for online news outlet Dumskaya, was assaulted and threatened by Yury Reznikov, Dumskaya.net reported. Reznikov is the owner of a cable car next Otrada beach in Odessa.
According to Ukrayinska Pravda, local deputies, civil activists and journalists gathered at Otrada beach to remove an illegal fence restricting public access to the beach. The video recorded by Dumskaya shows Reznikov confronting the group armed with a machine gun and threatening them. “I’m not ready to kill for private property, but I’m ready to shoot [you] in the legs,” Reznikov told them. During the episode Reznikov pushed Zamchynska, who fell to the ground and was injured as a result.
Deputy Olexander Sheremet managed to disarm Reznikov, and the police were called to the scene. They discovered that the gun had been loaded.
This is not the first time that Reznikov and his family attacked journalists and activists. In 2012, his daughter assaulted activist Zoya Melnik in front of her child. In 2014, Reznikov pushed a cameraman for Pervyi Gorodskoi TV channel into a swimming pool with his camera. [/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Maria Gural and Volodymyr Tsyganov” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 13 June, two reporters from online news site Stop Corruption, Maria Gural and Volodymyr Tsyganov, were assaulted in Priluki, Chernihiv region. The attacker was identified as Olexander Chaly. Chaly is deputy head of politician Boris Prikhodko’s election campaign for Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada, the Institute of Mass Information reported.
According to Stop Corruption, the journalists were trying to access an open event where Prikhodko was meeting with members of the public. The crew were investigating alleged voter bribery and wanted to question the politician.
Olexander Chaly first tried to snatch a microphone from Gural, and then began to assault her. Tsyganov tried to protect Gural and was assaulted as well. As a result of the beating, Gural received a concussion, and Tsyganov ended up with scratches and light injuries. The police arrested Chaly and charged him with “threat or violence against a journalist.” [/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Vadym Makaryuk” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
On 7 June, Vadym Makaryuk was physically assaulted during a mass brawl at Barabashovo market in Kharkiv by unknown individuals, Channel 24 reported. Makatyuk is a TV operator for Channel 24 and Visti.News,
A group of unidentified people assaulted the cameraperson as he filmed the altercation at the market. They sprayed tear gas in his eyes, smashed his face, broke his camera and took away his memory card. The clash was between the right-wing National Corps (who are Donbass war veterans) and the merchants of Barabashovo. According to the market administration, their conflict was due to a property dispute.
The journalist was taken to an intensive care unit in a local hospital, where doctors diagnosed a hemorrhagic stroke as a result of a cerebral haemorrhage sustained after the beating.
The police opened a criminal investigation into whether the incident constituted “threats or violence against a journalist”, “obstruction of journalists’ legal activities”, and “robbery”. A court in Kharkiv refused to detain a man involved in the brutal beating, saying that round-the-clock house arrest was sufficient punishment, Interfax-Ukraine reported. The court also sentenced Kozlyuk, a 26-year-old unemployed Kharkiv resident involved in the assault, to one month and 28 days under house arrest. Immediately after the hearing, the suspect’s lawyer said that he would appeal the decision. The prosecutor’s office also announced their intention to appeal.[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Natalia Polishchuk, Maria Petruchyk and Vyacheslav Moroshko” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 9 May, customs officers at the Yagodyn border crossing with Poland assaulted Natalia Polishchuk, Maria Petruchyk and Vyacheslav Moroshko, journalists working for Avers TV.
The three journalists were investigating a large shipment of amber, which was alleged to have been smuggled to Poland through the Yagodyn customs station. The reporting crew entered a restaurant where customs agents were attending a party and began asking questions about corruption and the amber smuggling. According to Avers, the officers who were present behaved aggressively and assaulted the journalists. They bruised one journalist’s finger and broke the crew’s camera, 1+1 TV channel reported.
“Two men approached me, they started tugging at me, tore my jacket, hit the cameraperson, hit the camera,” Polishchuk said. Petruchyk reported, “He (my attacker) wrestled my phone out of my hand, used brute force, my hand is damaged, he tore my journalist’s ID off me.” The officers also forcibly took the journalists’ driver’s licenses, car documents and bank cards. A customs officer told one of the journalists he would “bury her”. The journalists managed to film a part of the incident.
The police have opened criminal proceedings on three articles. “It’s about interfering with the professional activities of journalists, robbery and causing intentional light bodily injuries,” Viktor Homol, spokesperson for the National Police in the Volyn region, said. The case is now being investigated by the State Bureau of Investigations.[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Kateryna Kaplyuk and Borys Trotsenko” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 6 March, journalist Kateryna Kaplyuk and cameraperson Borys Trotsenko from the investigative TV project Schemes were assaulted in Chabany, a suburb of Kyiv. Schemes’s editor Natalie Sedletska reported the assault on her Facebook page. Sedletska wrote that the journalists had gone to Chabany village council to get information for an investigation on the illegal transfer of public land to private ownership.
The pair were filming at the council’s office, trying to interview the council secretary, when they were assaulted. Their attackers were two deputies of Chabany’s village head, Volodimir Chuprina and Yuri Bondar, as well as Valery Prisyazhny, the head of the public organisation Rozvitok Kyevshiny. In their attempt to prevent journalists from filming, these men injured Trotsenko and broke his camera.
Kaplyuk and Trotsenko called an ambulance. After a medical check-up at a hospital, Trotsenko was diagnosed with a concussion. The journalists filed a complaint with the police, who launched a criminal investigation. [/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Lack of “political will“ puts journalists at risk” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Despite the existence of legislation that aims to protect journalists, the NSJU said that Ukraine is notorious for impunity when crimes against journalists are committed.
Speaking at a conference held by the International Federation of Journalists in October 2018, Sergey Tomilenko, the head of NSJU, said that crimes against journalists had become the norm in Ukraine. He said that every four days there were acts of violence against journalists in the country, from brutal beatings to broken equipment.
In 2017-2018 NSJU recorded 175 physical violations against journalists in Ukraine, including minor acts of aggression and destruction of property.
Artyom Shevchenko, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior, reported on 1 March that in 2018, the police opened 258 criminal investigations on interfering with journalistic activity. In January 2019 alone, there were an additional 21 investigations. At the same time, however, only 26 out of the 258 cases related to crimes against media workers were passed on to the court.
“The lack of political will of the country’s leadership to really protect media workers leads to the fact that the attacks are not properly investigated, and those cases which still reach the court do not end with heavy punishment for the attackers”, head of NSJU Sergey Tomilenko told Index on Censorship’s project Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom. “Until recently, journalists, particularly investigative journalists, were viewed by officials as threats, and not as an important element of protecting democracy in the country.” Until recently, there has also been a political culture that legitimised humiliating journalists and the media, he added.
Tomilenko said that the NSJU has noticed that ordinary Ukrainians now feel emboldened to physically assault journalists. This is likely due to the toxic attitude toward the press created by government officials, he says. “Over the past year, we have witnessed an active uprising by the authorities–primarily representatives of the President, Petro Poroshenko, and parliamentarians of the political forces close to him–deliberate hostility towards certain journalists and the media, and calls to attack the so-called ‘pro-Russian’ media. This has resulted in the blocking of individual TV channels, the physical attacks on journalists during live broadcasts, parliamentary appeals to stop the broadcasting of individual media, and attempts to adopt draconian laws against the media.”
Tomilenko said that he was hopeful that the hostility toward journalists would abate in the future. “The victory of the new President, Volodymyr Zelensky, who does not use the rhetoric of hostility towards journalists and declares his support of freedom of speech and real political competition in the country, gives (me) hope that the Ukrainian authorities will not be at the forefront of those who reject the rights of journalists and the media.”
The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine has been calling for regular and transparent public reports by law enforcement agencies on the progress of investigations of crimes against journalists. Such reports could be used as a key tool in battling impunity. In addition, the NSJU is recommending special parliamentary hearings on journalists’ physical security and freedom of speech.
“This initiative, which we proposed in July 2017 on the 1st anniversary of the assassination of Pavel Sheremet, is particularly relevant today — when a new murder took place in Ukraine — that of regional journalist Vadim Komarov”, Tomilenko said. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Press Freedom Violations in Ukraine” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
Number and types of incidents recorded between 1 February and 30 June 2019
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Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project tracks press freedom violations in five countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Learn more.
27 June 2019 — An unknown person deliberately crashed his car into Stop Corruption online outlet crew’s car in Odessa, the National Police reported. The left side of the car was damaged. The driver, who was inside the vehicle, wasn’t injured.
The incident was reported by journalist Roman Bochkala on his Facebook page. According to his post, investigative journalist Asya Glutska and her crew went to film a $1 million private villa owned by judge Serhiy Chvankin, head of Kyiv district court in Odessa. After that the crew drove to Kyiv District Court. About 30 hired thugs were waiting for the journalists there. One of them drove a car into the side of the journalists’ vehicle. According to Odessa police report, the thugs also threatened Glutska and the crew.
The police has launched an investigation under the criminal article of “threat or violence against a journalist.”
22 June 2019 — Olexander Nakaznenko, a Zorya Pryirpinnya editor, was assaulted by the village council deputy Yury Marchuk in Gostomel, IMI reported.
According to the Zorya Pryirpinnya website, Nakaznenko said “it happened at the Gostomel market during lunch time, when I brought the new issue of my newspaper to hand out there. The deputy of the Gostomel village council, Yuri Marchuk, who saw me with a stack of newspapers, at first wouldn’t allow me to pass and picked at me with insults and threats. When I passed by him… he ran after me and hit me in the back of my head with his fist from behind”. Nakaznenko told Marchuck that his actions were illegal, and the latter knocked the smartphone out of his hands. That part of the encounter was caught on camera.
After the incident, Nakaznenko filed a complaint to the police. He connected the assault with his journalists professional activities, as he has long criticised the work of the Gostomelian deputy Yury Marchuk in the newspaper.
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Female journalist assaulted by tenant of private beach
20 June 2019 — Aliya Zamchynska, correspondent of Dumskaya online news outlet, was assaulted and threatened by Yury Reznikov, tenant of Otrada beach in Odessa and owner of a cable car next to it, Dumskaya.net reported.
According to Ukrayinska Pravda, local deputies, civil activists and journalists arrived to Otrada beach to remove an illegal fence restricting public access to the beach. The video recorded by Dumskaya shows Reznikov confronting the group armed with a machine gun and threatening them. “I’m not ready to kill for private property, but I’m ready to shoot [you] in the legs,” Reznikov told them. During the episode Reznikov pushed Zamchynska, who fell to the ground and received an abrasion.
Deputy Olexander Sheremet managed to disarm Reznikov, and the police were called to the scene. They discovered that the gun had been loaded.
This is not the first time that Reznikov and his family attacked journalists and activists: in 2012 his daughter assaulted activist Zoya Melnik in front of her child, and in 2014 Reznikov pushed a cameraman for Pervyi Gorodskoi TV channel into a swimming pool with his camera.
Two journalists assaulted by head of election campaign
13 June 2019 — Two reporters from Stop Corruption online outlet, Maria Gural and Volodymyr Tsyganov, were assaulted in Priluki, Chernihiv region, Institute for Mass Information reported. The attacker was identified as Olexander Chaly, deputy head of politician Boris Prikhodko’s election campaign for Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada.
According to Stop Corruption website, the journalists were trying to access an open event where Prikhodko was meeting with members of the public. The crew intended to check their intel on alleged voter bribery at the event.
Olexander Chaly first tried to snatch a microphone from Gural, and then began to beat her. Tsyganov tried to protect Gural and got beaten up as well. As a result of the assault, Gural received a concussion, and Tsyganov ended up with scratches and light injuries. The police arrested the assaulter and charged him under the criminal article of “threat or violence against a journalist.”
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
TV journalists threatened to have their equipment damaged
10 June 2019 — UA:Rivne TV correspondent Alina Prymak and her cameraman were threatened by unknown individuals near the private residence of a local businessman in Rivne, IMI reported.
The TV crew came to the scene to follow up on the local police’s report about an arson in a private residence the night before. The journalists approached the residence, and a few unknown men who claimed to be working there confronted them in the street. Prymak asked if it was possible to talk to the owner about the arson. “The men began threatening to cut the wheels of a car that was parked nearby, apparently having decided that it was the car the journalists had arrived in, although that was not the case. They also threatened to break our camera. At the same time, one of the men pushed the cameraman, ” Prymak said.
After that journalists left the scene. UA:Rivne TV filed a complaint to the police.
UA:Rivne TV is a local branch of the Ukrainian public broadcaster in Rivne.
7 June 2019 — Unidentified individuals severely beat Vadym Makaryuk , a cameraman for the 24th channel and Visti.News portal, during a mass brawl at the Barabashovo marketplace in Kharkiv, 24th channel reported.
According to the National Police, a the mob assaulted Makaryuk as he was filming an altercation at the market. They sprayed tear gas in his eyes, punched him in the face, destroyed his camera and stole the memory card. The incident happened during the clashes between a right-wing group the National Corps, war veterans in the Donbas and merchants in the market. According to the market managers, the conflict arose due to a property dispute.
The journalist was taken to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed a hemorrhagic stroke, which was the result of cerebral hemorrhage caused by the assault. Makaryuk is in critical condition at the hospital.
Police opened criminal proceedings under the articles “threats or violence against a journalist”, “obstruction of journalists’ legal activities”, and “robbery”.
UPDATE
12 June 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, condemned the attack on Vadym Makaryuk, and called on the Ukrainian authorities to thoroughly investigate the incident. “I condemn the attack and beating of Vadim Makaryuk, and urge the authorities to do their utmost to bring the perpetrators of this attack swiftly to justice,” Désir said. “Targeting and attacking journalists because of their work is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.”
12 June 2019 – A court in Kharkiv refused to detain a man involved in the brutal beating of Makaryuk, considering round-the-clock house arrest was sufficient, Interfax-Ukraine reported. According to the court’s decision, a 26-year-old unemployed Kharkiv resident Kozlyuk who was involved in the assault on Makaryuk would have to spend one month and 28 days under house arrest. Immediately after the hearing, the lawyer of the suspect said that the defense would appeal the decision. The press service of the prosecutor’s office also announced their intention to appeal this decision of the court.
30 July 2019 — Oksana Sokolova, a ICTV TV channel presenter, reported being followed by unknown persons, the Institute of Mass Information reported. 