28 Nov 2019 | Ukraine, Ukraine Incident Reports
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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.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”9 Incidents” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]
Online news outlet Bykvu reported pressure from Servant of the People politician
31 October 2019 – The editorial board of Bykvu online news outlet expressed concern at a statement from Servant of the People’s deputy chairman, Alexander Kornienko, who insinuated that parliamentary photojournalists could face lawsuits if they’re not “careful”, Zmina news outlet reported.
Servant of the People
In a statement, Bykvu’s editorial board said that they regard Kornienko’s statement that “parliamentary photojournalists should be more careful” or “it could provoke a response”, as well as his allusion to the Criminal Code and possible lawsuits against photojournalists, as a request for journalists to self-censor. This, they believe, was an attempt to put pressure on independent media.
Bykvu believed that Kornienko’s statement sought to intimidate them for having published screenshots of correspondences between Servant of the People parliamentarian, Bogdan Yaremenko, and a sex worker. The story, which had been published the day before Kornienko made his statement, spread widely in the Ukrainian media.
Link(s): https://bykvu.com/ru/bukvy/obrashhenie-redakcii-internet-izdanija-bukvy-k-prezidentu-ukrainy-i-rukovodstvu-frakcii-partii-sluga-naroda-o-nedopustimosti-davlenija-na-smi/
https://zmina.info/news/vydannya-yake-vykrylo-perepysku-slugy-narodu-z-seks-praczivnyczeyu-zayavylo-pro-tysk-z-boku-yaremenka/
https://lb.ua/news/2019/10/31/441063_yaremenko_isklyuchat_fraktsii_izza.html
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-launches-probe-into-ex-lawmaker-who-threatened-released-data-on-rfe-staff/30257921.html
Categories: Intimidation, Censorship
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Investigative crew’s personal data leaked by former government official
31 October 2019 – Andriy Portnov, former MP and ex-Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of former President Viktor Yanukovych, published personal information about the driver who works for Schemes, RFE/RL reported.
Andriy Portnov published some of Schemes staff’s personal information on his Telegram channel
Portnov, who has recently risen to prominence and has a significant following on his Telegram channel, posted the personal data of Schemes’ driver, including his passport information, home address, and car number plates.
According to RFE/RL, Schemes had been conducting an investigation into the nature of Portnov’s connections with the new Ukrainian authorities. Schemes’ editorial board told Radio Liberty that it regards the publication of the personal data as an attempt to pressure and influence the Schemes team. According to reports, it said that it considers the investigation into Portnov’s to be in the public interest. The editorial board said that it does not intend to stop the investigation.
According to reports, Lyudmila Pankratova, a lawyer from the Regional Press Development Institute, said that the dissemination of the Schemes’ driver’s information was a threat and is in contravention of Article 6 of the Law on the Protection of Personal Data, which defines the instances in which such personal data may be disseminated.
Updates:
5 November 2019 – In the days after 31 October, Portnov continued to disclose, via his Telegram channel, the registration number plate details of 16 vehicles used by Schemes’ staff. According to RFE/RL, on 5 November he reportedly invited anyone who came across these vehicles to “give a stiff rebuff” to the drivers.
7 November 2019 — Police launched criminal proceedings related to the threats against Schemes’ staff, RFE/RL reported. According to the National Police, criminal proceedings against Portnov were opened under the articles relating to the obstruction of the legitimate professional activity of journalists and threats or violence against journalists.
According to RFE/RL, Portnov responded on his Telegram channel saying that he would file a “symmetrical” police report on RFE/RL for the same offenses. He reportedly says that, since he is an employee of 112 Ukraine television, he should enjoy the same level of journalistic protection as Schemes staff. Portnov’s complaint was reportedly filed with police.
On 5 November Portnov posted on his Telegram channel that he was a special correspondent and presenter of the PortnovNow program on 112 Ukraine TV channel. The ex-official wrote that his editorial assignment from the program was to “inform the audience about people who engage in illegal activities.” This was reportedly interpreted as a reference to Schemes’ journalists.
Link(s): https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-schemes-portnov-dani/30248189.html
https://imi.org.ua/news/portnov-oprylyudnyv-personalni-dani-vodiya-shem-cherez-te-shho-redaktsiya-gotuye-pro-nogo-i30273
https://t.me/PortnovUA/1316
https://www.npu.gov.ua/news/Informacziya/policziya-rozpochala-kriminalne-provadzhennya-za-faktom-pogroz-zhurnalistam-radio-svoboda/
https://www.npu.gov.ua/news/Informacziya/slidchi-naczpolicziji-rozpochali-kriminalne-provadzhennya-za-zayavoyu-advokata-andriya-portnova/
https://imi.org.ua/news/politsiya-vidkryla-spravu-za-zayavoyu-portnova-pro-pereshkodzhannya-zhurnalistamy-shem-i30361
https://t.me/PortnovUA/1339
Categories: DDoS/Hacking/Doxing, Online Defamation/Discredit/Harassment/Verbal Abuse, Intimidation
Source of violation: Known private individual(s)
Female journalist threatened when filming accident scene
27 October 2019 – Olga Dvoynos, a correspondent for UA:Chernihiv TV channel, was threatened by an unknown person while she was filming a scene of a car accident in Chernihiv, Detector Media reported.
While Dvoynos was filming, an unknown man approached her, threatened to break her phone, and stopped her from filming, even after she had shown him her press identification.
According to the chief news editor of UA:Chernihiv, Andriy Titok, the car that crashed allegedly belonged to a company owned by the mayor of Chernihiv, Vladislav Atroshenko. UA:Chernihiv is working on identifying the man, and intends to file a complaint to the police on obstruction of the journalist’s professional activity.
Link(s): https://cn.suspilne.media/news/44423
https://stv.detector.media/reformuvannya/regional_movnyky/zhurnalisttsi_kanalu_ua_chernigiv_pogrozhuvali_rozbiti_telefon_pid_chas_zyomki_na_mistsi_dtp/
Categories: Intimidation
Source of violation: Other/Unknown
Online news outlet editor assaulted by local deputy
23 October 2019 – Victor Goloborodko, online editor for Texts.Alexandriya, was assaulted by Hennady Lotsman, the Head of the Housing, Urban Planning and Architecture Department of Alexandria City Council, the Institute for Mass Information reported.
The journalist was filming a conflict near a landfill, between local residents and employees of a municipal utility that managed the landfill.
Goloborodko told IMI’s representative in Kirovograd Region that he had been called by local residents to report on the situation around the landfill. Employees of the municipal utility that managed the landfill company blocked the entry for residents (who were reportedly outraged by the presence of landfills in the vicinity of their homes). He said that he arrived at the venue around midnight and began filming the incident. Footage of Hennady Lotsman’s car was reportedly in the video. He said that the deputy tried to knock the camera out of his hands and pushed him.
Immediately after the incident, the journalist filed a complaint to the police, reporting an injury to the hand. He reportedly said that he intends to pursue the matter.
Link(s):https://imi.org.ua/news/v-oleksandriyi-deputat-napav-na-mistsevogo-zhurnalista-i30125
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury, Attack to Property
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Separatists sentenced Ukrainian journalist to 15 years in prison
22 October 2019 – Ukrainian journalist and blogger Stanyslav Aseev was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the so-called “Supreme Court” of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Hromadske reported. He was also deprived of the right to engage in journalistic activities for 2.5 years.
According to online media outlets of Donetsk People’s Republic, Aseev conducted a visual reconnaissance of the locations of the units of the People’s Police of Donetsk People’s Republic, and transmitted the data to representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine. In the case file it is alleged that the blogger has recruited pro-Ukrainian users in social media to collect and transmit military and other information.
The so-called “court” found Aseev guilty of organising an extremist community, espionage and incitement to espionage, public calls for extremist activities, and public calls for actions aimed at violating territorial integrity. Aseev will serve time in a maximum-security jail.
Ukrainian journalist Stanyslav Aseev went missing in the Donbass region on 3 June 2017. That day he was reportedly expected to send material to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which showed life in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. Aseev has been working under the pen name of Stanyslav Vasin since 2014, and reported from Donetsk for Radio Svoboda, Dzerkalo Tyzhnya, Ukrayinska Pravda and Ukrainian Week.
Link(s): https://hromadske.ua/ru/posts/v-dnr-osudili-plennogo-zhurnalista-aseeva-do-15-let-tyurmy
http://dnr-live.ru/ukrainskiy-zhurnalist-aseev-prigovoren-v-dnr-k-15-godam-kolonii/
Categories: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation, Criminal Charges/Fines/Sentences
Source of violation: Other/Unknown
TV presenter received letter containing death threats
21 October 2019 – Mykhailo Beizerman, political talk show host at the First City TV channel in Odessa, received a letter containing death threats. Beizerman posted the letter on his Facebook page.
The letter said that the representatives of a patriotic organization were gathering information about the journalist and decided that he would be a “showcase victim.” A photograph depicting Beizerman as a shooting target was included in the letter. Beizerman linked the threats to his journalistic activities.
The name of the patriotic organization was not specified in the letter. The police launched an investigation into the threats.
Link(s): https://www.facebook.com/mic.beyzerman/posts/241702263470920
https://www.infoport.live/news/odessa-news/odesskij-zhurnalist-poluchil-neobychnoe-pismo-s-ugrozami/
Categories: Intimidation
Source of violation: Other/Unknown
Court grants investigators access to journalists‘ internal communication
17 October 2017 – Kyiv’s Pechersk District Court granted the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) permission to temporarily access editorial communication of the journalists of Schemes, an investigative program of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and public broadcaster UA:Pershyi, RFE/RL reported. SBI investigators also were granted access to a range of other in-house editorial data – the work hours of journalists, cameramen and drivers, and data on their salaries. The information is to be provided within a month.
According to the court, if the editorial board does not provide the SBI with the above information, the court, at the request of the investigators of the SBI, “has the right to issue a search permit for the purpose of finding and seizing the items and documents.”
In January 2018, Schemes authors Mykhailo Tkach and Nataliya Sedletska did a story titled “Mr. Petro Incognito: President Poroshenko’s Secret Vacation”. They found proof that Ukraine’s ex-president went on a secret vacation to the Maldives that cost around $500,000, and suggested that he used a fake passport and avoided customs. A police investigation was launched on 6 August, which includes charges such as an alleged “unlawful transfer of persons” – in particular, Poroshenko – across Ukrainian state border “using knowingly forged documents.”
The list of data that the journalists are required to submit to the SBI, includes all the footage they took, information requests and responses during the preparation of the investigation, any documents confirming the presence of involved journalists and other staff during the filming.
Schemes editorial board published an official statement, saying that documents requested by the ruling was “excessive”, and expressed concern that providing them would compromise their sources. They noted that Schemes had provided all the documents that had previously been requested.
Kyiv’s Pechersk District Court decision cannot be appealed. Schemes are consulting lawyers to establish the best course of action.
Link(s): https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-schemes-sud-dbr-dostup/30232159.html
https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/schemes/30232185.html
https://www.golos-ameriki.ru/a/court-in-kiev-granted-access-to-the-correspondence-of-journalists/5137310.html
Categories: Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
TV crew blocked by unidentified persons
15 October 2019 – Avers TV channel’s crew was blocked by unidentified persons near Volodymyr-Volyn poultry factory in the Volyn region, the Institute for Mass Information reported.
The journalists were reportedly filming a report about the poultry factory’s open-air warehouses (used to hold waste) and the pollution they produced. During filming, two cars of unknown men arrived at the scene and blocked the TV crew’s car.
Avers TV journalist Natalia Polishchuk reported that the unidentified men refused to identify themselves. Polishchuk said that the men prevented them from filming, saying that it was private property. She reportedly said that because their vehicle was blocked, they locked themselves into the car as a means of protection. She said that the men did not react to their signals to clear their path. From the car, they called the police who arrived within 40 minutes. The journalists filed a complaint to the police regarding the incident.
According to IMI, the police are investigating the case and deciding whether to open criminal proceedings under the article “impeding the legitimate professional activity of journalists.”
Link(s): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jv0Ncfz5lc
https://imi.org.ua/news/zhurnalistiv-aversu-zablokuvaly-pid-chas-zjomok-vidstijnykiv-volodymyr-volynskoyi-ptahofabryky-i30029
Categories: Blocked Access
Source of violation: Unknown
National Council requested court to revoke TV channel’s license
2 October 2019 – The National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting has requested that the District Administrative Court of Kyiv revoke the broadcasting license issued to the LLC Novyny 24 hours (which uses the NewsOne logo), the Institute for Mass Information reported. The court is currently deciding whether to institute proceedings in this administrative case.
On 5 September, the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting sued the NewsOne TV channel due to what they said was the systematic incitement of hostility.
NewsOne claimed that it considered National Council’s decision to sue them as part of a crackdown on freedom of speech in Ukraine and an attempt to oust all independent media from the Ukrainian media landscape.
In August, National Council member Serhiy Kostinsky said that the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting would ask the judges to revoke the license of NewsOne TV channel.
Link(s): https://imi.org.ua/news/natsrada-podala-pozov-do-sudu-z-prohannyam-anulyuvaty-litsenziyu-newsone-i29856
http://oask.gov.ua/node/4119?fbclid=IwAR3ckT3Qe51dd4wf0pT9sDgnUDqV-llkkIWtjJmXeQhRCGpLnjieKkL25Ao
https://112.international/ukraine-top-news/international-editorial-council-demands-ukrainian-authorities-to-prevent-newsone-tv-channel-license-cancellation-43012.html
Categories: Legal Measures
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1574858033039-46c1676b-ec83-1″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
28 Nov 2019 | Belarus, Belarus Incident Reports
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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.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”6 Incidents” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
Court upholds local council’s decision to deny a journalist accreditation
17 October 2019 – The Economic Court of the Brest Region dismissed an appeal from independent regional newspaper Hantsavitski Chas against a court decision in September, which ruled to uphold Hantsavichy Local Council’s decision to deny accreditation to Hantsavitski Chas journalists.
Hantsavitski Chas’ editor-in-chief, Piotr Huzajeuski, said that he believed that the journalists are being deprived of their right to cover events held by the local council.
In March 2019, the editorial board of the newspaper Hantsavitski Chas sent a letter to the local council asking to accredit its journalists to cover the council’s activities. However, the leadership of the council denied them the accreditation, referring to the fact that a procedure for accrediting journalists by this institution had not been established.
Link:
https://baj.by/be/content/sud-adhiliu-apelyacyyu-gancavickaga-chasu-nakont-admovy-u-akredytacyi-zhurnalistau
https://baj.by/be/content/sud-abavyazau-savet-deputatau-raspracavac-palazhenne-ab-akredytacyi-zhurnalistau
http://www.ganc-chas.by/by/page/news/18156/
http://www.ganc-chas.by/by/page/news/17842/
Category: Blocked Access, Legal Measures
Source(s) of violation: Court/Juducial, Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Journalist barred from attending a session of the election commission in Minsk
A billboard showing some of the candidates for November’s parliamentary election.
17 October 2019 – Journalist Volha Bykouskaya of the independent online newspaper Bdg.by was not allowed to attend the election commission in the Minsk district, where one of the candidates in attendance was Yury Hubarevich, chairman of the oppositional Movement for Freedom.
The commission demanded accreditation papers from her and told her to leave the room, ignoring her press card. The journalist appealed to the Central Election Commission, which responded that Belarusian journalists do not need any accreditation to attend such events.
Separately, the Belarusian Association of Journalists contacted the District Election Commission #107 for an explanation. The Commission’s representatives claimed that the journalist had been asked to show her press card, and failed to do so.
Link: https://baj.by/en/content/journalist-volha-bykouskaya-barred-meeting-election-commission-minsk
Category: Blocked Access
Source(s) of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Freelance journalist denied accreditation for the 11th time
17 October 2019 – Hrodna journalist Viktar Parfionenka has been denied accreditation by the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. That was his eleventh attempt to get official permission to work as a reporter for the Belarusian Radio Racyja, which is headquartered in Poland.
Since 2009, Parfionenka has been trying to obtain accreditation to be able to legally contribute to Radio Racyja. Each year he compiled a set of documents necessary for accreditation, but has so far failed become accredited.
This year he was denied again, under paragraph 15.4 of the Regulations on Accreditation of Foreign Journalists: “To refuse accreditation to journalists of a foreign media outlet for 6 months after known facts of this outlet using the services of unaccredited journalists and (or) other persons without accreditation.”
Link: https://baj.by/en/content/radio-racyja-journalist-denied-accreditation-11th-time https://vitebskspring.org/vyasna/4157-mzs-bielarusi-nie-akredytavala-viktara-parfionienku-11y-raz
Category: Blocked Access, Legal Measures
Source(s) of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
DDoS attack on Onliner.by news site
10 October 2019 – One of the most popular Belarusian websites, Onliner.by, appeared to have been the target of a significant DDoS attack. The website administrators reported difficulty loading the page and users reported having difficulty accessing the website. Suspicious activity was reported in users’ profiles.
Onliner.by, which is a news site that focuses mainly on digital technology, informed their audience about the incident and apologised for the inconvenience. An editorial letter suggested that website users improved their profiles’ security by changing their passwords and enabling two-step verification.
Link: https://tech.onliner.by/2019/10/10/ddos-4
https://baj.by/be/content/onliner-podvergaetsya-ddos-atake
Category: DDoS/Hacking/Doxing
Source(s) of violation: Unknown
YouTube blogger detained after covering opposition rally
5 October 2019 – Video blogger Siarhei Tsikhanouski, who is behind the popular YouTube channel Country for Life, was detained in central Minsk after he carried out a live broadcast of opposition politician Mikalai Statkevich’s pre-election rally.
Tsikhanouski said during the live broadcast that his car was surrounded by six traffic police cars, and that he was told that unpaid fines were registered to his car. Then the blogger was told to drive to the Leninski District Police Department. There he was informed that his car might have been stolen. After having filed a police report, he was released. He spent two hours at the police station.
UPDATE: 15 October 2019 – Tsikhanouski was fined 12.75 rubles for violating traffic rules. The blogger told Radio Liberty that he thought that it was unlikely that six traffic police cars were involved in his arrest only to give him a small fine. He said that he thought that the police wanted to confiscate the equipment, with which we were conducting the live broadcasting, or that they simply wanted to intimidate them. He said that because he let many people know that he was in the police department, people were calling him and going to the police department.
Link(s): https://belsat.eu/ru/news/avtora-kanala-strana-dlya-zhizni-zaderzhivali-shest-ekipazhej-gai/
https://www.svaboda.org/a/30201950.html
https://www.svaboda.org/a/30216368.html
Category: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation,
Source(s) of violation: Police
Blogger Andrei Pavuk subjected to attempts to frame him
4 October 2019 – Blogger Andrei Pavuk was contacted by a duty officer of the Aktsiabrski district police department, who stated that the police had received a phone call, allegedly from the blogger’s phone number. The police said that the man on the phone, who claimed to be Andrei Pavuk, said that he had “killed his wife Volha and her lover.” The male caller also provided the blogger’s home address. Pavuk’s wife, who was with him at the time of the police call, had to explain the officer that the call was a hoax. She then filed a police report, demanding that the perpetrator be found.
The attempts to frame Pavuk came as the court is considering his lawsuit against local police for compensation for non-pecuniary damages from the police for his unlawful detention and search in March 2019.
On 20 March, the Ministry of Emergency Situations received a hoax message about a mine at a local government building, allegedly sent from Pavuk’s email. The blogger was detained and searched, and his equipment was confiscated.
Link(s): https://udf.by/news/main_news/200208-ja-ubil-svoju-zhenu-i-ee-ljubovnika-neizvestnye-terrorizirujut-semju-izvestnogo-blogera.html
https://naviny.by/article/20191006/1570369644-blogeru-andreyu-pauku-pozvonili-iz-milicii-utochnit-ubival-li-svoyu
Category: Online Defamation/Discredit/Harassment/Verbal Abuse
Source(s) of violation: Unknown [/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1574848372226-a9d8b457-3ad8-0″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
15 Oct 2019 | Ukraine, Ukraine Incident Reports
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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.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”10 Incidents” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]
Cameraman assaulted with pepper spray
Channel 7 cameraman was pepper sprayed while reporting
30 September 2019 – Andriy Kulba, a cameraman for Channel 7, was reporting on a domestic incident, involving a young child, in Odessa when he was assaulted with pepper spray. Paramedics who were called provided Kulba with first aid and he was taken to the burn department of a local hospital. Both of his forearms, as well as his neck, face and eyes were injured in the assault.
Link(s): http://nsju.org/index.php/article/view/8237
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury
Source of violation: Known private individual(s)
Journalist threatened with a gun
26 September 2019 – Video blogger Andriy Pylypovych was shooting a story on illegal construction in the city of New Kakhovka (Kherson region), when he was threatened with a pistol by a builder on the site.
“I was shooting a story for my video blog [on YouTube], and as a freelance correspondent for the newspapers Dniprovsky Prospect and Chas. We perceived the threat of “firing” at us as a joke until the builder pulled a gun out of the car,” Pylypovych told the Institute for Mass Information representative.
No one was injured and the police have opened a criminal investigation.
Link(s): https://imi.org.ua/news/u-novij-kahovtsi-budivelnyk-pogrozhuvav-zhurnalistu-pistoletom-i29813
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArqrcoibdJQ
https://hr.npu.gov.ua/news/virok-sudu/zhitel-novoji-kaxovki-pidozryujetsya-v-pogrozhuvanni-misczevomu-zhurnalistu/?fbclid=IwAR2lq2XpANB1rGJDjkpAEZb4fVtPr0m-fnQHFvAyWErtL5G_5GPonb-60Qw
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury
Source of violation: Unknown
National Council on television to revoke licenses for TV channel
26 September 2019 – The Ukrainian National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting made a decision not to extend broadcasting licence of 112 Ukraine TV channel, which is available in five Ukrainian regions, including Donbass, TASS reported.
A spokesman for the regulator, Serhiy Kostinsky, said that 112 Ukraine TV channel’s request to extend their licence would be denied. All members of the committee have backed this decision.
On 30 September, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his concern today over the decision taken by the media regulator, the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine, not to renew the digital terrestrial broadcasting licenses of five regional television companies.
“I hope that the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine will find a solution to preserve pluralism in the media environment,” said Désir. “It is important to ensure diversity in the broadcasting, while fully respecting the legal requirements, and balancing any regulatory decisions with access to pluralistic media.”
Link(s):
https://tass.com/society/1080001
https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/national-council-ruling-on-112-ukraines-ending-license-for-appealed-by-5-tv-companies-with-its-logo.html
https://112.international/society/revoking-digital-broadcasting-license-from-the-112-ukraine-tv-channel-is-political-lynching-opposition-platform-for-life-party-43954.html
https://www.osce.org/representative-on-freedom-of-media/434201
https://imi.org.ua/en/news/five-companies-broadcasting-under-logo-112-ukraina-appealed-against-national-council-s-decision-i29836
Categories: Legal Measures
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Journalists pushed and shoved by president’s press secretary
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s spokesperson, Yulia Mendel, shoves reporter Serhiy Andrushko to prevent him from asking questions
26 September 2019 – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and UA:Pershyi correspondent, Serhiy Andrushko, was repeatedly pushed back by presidential press secretary Yulia Mendel, as he tried to approach the Head of the President’s Office and President Zelenskiy to ask them questions.
A video of the incident shows Mendel repeatedly shoving Serhiy Andrushko as he tries to approach the two men. The Head of the President’s Office, Andriy Bohdan, approaching the journalist and told him: “I do not communicate with representatives of the media, which deceive society and don’t adhere to journalistic standards. This is my final point.”
RFE/RL’s Kyiv correspondent Christopher Miller said he had encountered Mendel’s confrontational approach at a conference in Kyiv on 13 September. According to Miller, Mendel shoved him aside while he was talking to Zelenskiy at the conference.
On September 28 the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine demanded apology from Presidential Office for Mendel’s behaviour. “The press secretary of the president has no right to physically interfere in the work of journalists,” the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine head Serhiy Tomilenko said on Facebook.
Link(s): https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=external&v=389325218429171
https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2019/09/27/7227517/
https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2019/09/27/7227495/
https://www.facebook.com/mixailotkach/posts/2426832120719629
https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/schemes/30184985.html
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-journalist-union-demands-apology-from-presidential-office/30189675.html
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury, Blocked Access
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Journalist received threats in SMS messages
23 September 2019 – KyivPost journalist, Anna Myronyuk, received a text message from pro-Russian fighters from the occupied areas of the Luhansk region saying that she could be be given up to 10 years to life imprisonment for alleged “genocide and prohibited means / methods of war”.
She was the third KyivPost journalist to have received such messages after sending their documents to the Joint Forces Operations press centre about three weeks ago. She wrote on Facebook: “I have reason to believe that there was another leak of the data of journalists who have applied for accreditation to work in the combat zone or the Joint Forces Operations zone. Colleagues from other media who did not apply for accreditation during this period did not receive such threats. I will be happy to be incorrect, but so far everything looks different – that it is not becoming safer to work as a journalist in Ukraine”.
Olga Rudenko, KyivPost deputy editor-in-chief, said that SMS messages were received by journalists who had not yet travelled to the Joint Forces Operation zone. British journalist Reece Lynch is also reported to have been threatened.
Link(s):
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2514082801990506&set=a.794967737235363&type=3&theater
https://detector.media/community/article/170996/2019-09-24-zhurnalisti-kyiv-post-poskarzhilisya-na-pogrozi-z-boku-boiovikiv-orlo-pripustivshi-vitik-danikh/
Categories: Intimidation, Offline Defamation/Discredit/Harassment/Verbal Abuse
Source of violation: Unknown
Online news outlet journalist assaulted by local deputy
23 September 2019 – KNK-media journalist Alexander Vlasov was assaulted by Kherson region council deputy, Yevhen Ryshchuk, in the village of Pravi Sahy village.
The assault on the journalist occurred at night, during the village celebrations in the local House of Culture. According to Institute for Mass Information, Ryshchuk hit the journalist on the head and in the shoulder and then took his phone, breaking it.
The police opened a criminal investigation under the article “intentional slight bodily injury.”
Link(s): https://hr.npu.gov.ua/news/novini/policziya-z-yasovuje-obstavini-konfliktu-v-oleshkivskomu-rajoni/
https://knk.media/zhurnalisty/25-aleksandr-vlasov.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tz9LlmoNIM
https://imi.org.ua/news/politsiya-vidkryla-spravu-za-171-statteyu-cherez-pereshkodzhannya-zhurnalistu-i29717
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury, Attack to Property
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
TV journalist assaulted by car driver
6 September 2019 – Journalist Kateryna Kolgan of 2+2 TV’s DjeDAI (ДжеДАІ) program was assaulted by a motorist in Kyiv, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine reported.
Kolgan posted on Facebook that the program crew was filming a story about violators of traffic rules in the urban district of Borshchagovka. According to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, one of the drivers who Kolgan approached for interview, punched her from his car. In doing so, he knocked her mobile phone from her hand and drove over it.
The journalist was not injured but the phone was damaged as a result of the incident. “I’m glad that only the mobile phone was broken – and not my leg. The car came very close to my foot,” Kolgan wrote.
The journalist contacted the police, saying that she has a video, which shows both the driver and the car number.
Link(s): https://www.facebook.com/katyha.kolgan/posts/1961707133931875
https://imi.org.ua/news/u-kyyevi-pid-chas-zjomok-vodij-napav-na-zhurnalistku-2-2-i29449
http://nsju.org/index.php/article/view/8198
https://detector.media/community/article/170537/2019-09-06-u-kievi-na-zhurnalistku-22-napali-pid-chas-ziomok-syuzhetu-politsiya-vidkrila-provadzhennya/
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury, Attack to Property
Source of violation: Unknown
National TV Council to file lawsuit to revoke NewsOne television’s license
5 September 2019 – The Ukrainian National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council has accused the News 24 Hours TV channel of inciting ethical, racial, and religious strife, noting that it is going to file a lawsuit to deprive the TV channel of its license, the KyivPost reported.
The council said that it recorded violations during News 24 Hours’ unscheduled inspection of the TV station in July, which came about as a result of NewsOne TV’s (which is owned by News 24 Hours) intentions to hold a TV link-up with the Russia-1 TV channel on 8 July.
Reading out the council’s decision, Herasymiuk accused the TV channel of “inciting ethnic, racial, or religious animosity or hostility in statements that were made live on the News 24 Hours TV channel between June 6, 2019, and July 8, 2019”.
In a statement on its website, NewsOne said that the National Council’s decision is based on multiple violations of the law that have taken place before and during the inspection of the TV channel. “The National Council blatantly and cynically displayed the negligence of legal procedures and put a rude pressure on its employees in order to ruin the independent TV channel,” NewsOne said in the statement.
Link(s): https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/ukrainian-national-tv-council-to-file-lawsuit-to-revoke-newsone-televisions-license.html
https://newsone.ua/news/society/newsone-obratilsja-k-mezhdunarodnomu-soobshchestvu-v-svjazi-s-resheniem-natssoveta.html
https://interfax.com.ua/news/telecom/611492.html
Categories: Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Reporters received death threats
5 September 2019 – Bellingcat journalist Oleksiy Kuzmenko received an anonymous e-mail containing a link to the video and death threats after he tweeted about a far-right festival held in Kyiv by the Azov movement. He received other insults and threats by various far-right groups.
Since Bellingcat published an article on the translation of the Christchurch shooter’s manifesto in mid-August 2019, Michael Colborne and Oleksiy Kuzmenko have been consistently harassed and threatened online.
In August, a threatening video appeared on a far-right Telegram channel that promotes the Christchurch shooter’s manifesto. The video featured the photographs of Michael Colborne, Oleksiy Kuzmenko and fellow journalists Dmitry Gordon and Valerie Kipnis, being shot one by one with a firearm. It was posted with the following message: “This video is kind of an instruction manual on how to deal with our enemies.” Michael Colborne’s photograph showed him as he was beaten up while covering an anti-LGBT rally in Kyiv last November.
Link(s):
https://go.coe.int/SRWnu
https://twitter.com/bellingcat/status/1169306250087161858
https://tsn.ua/ukrayina/rozsliduvachi-bellingcat-zayavili-pro-pogrozi-vbivstvom-z-boku-ukrayinskih-pravoradikaliv-1405953.html
Categories: Intimidation, Online Defamation/Discredit/Harassment/Verbal Abuse
Source of violation: Unknown
City council deputy grabs audio recorder from journalist
3 September 2019 — Halyna Nazarova, journalist for Energetik newspaper, was assaulted by city council deputy, Anatoliy Tolkach, during a city council meeting in the Mykolaiv region.
Nazarova told the Institute for Mass Information that she was sitting near Tolkach at a meeting and placed the audio recorder on the table. Tolkach grabbed the recorder and put it in his pocket, saying that she was not allowed to record him. He ignored her requests to give her back the recorder.
The journalist then began using her phone to record, but the deputy grabbed her phone and threw it. Describing the incident, she said, “He took the recorder, so I turned on the recorder on my mobile phone. I put it on the table. He picked up the phone and tossed it on the floor. He shouted to us that ‘your place is in the corner, get in the corner and write from there’.”
As a result, the meeting was suspended and the journalist called the police. The police launched an investigation under the article “Obstruction of the legal professional activity of journalists.”
Link(s): https://imi.org.ua/news/na-mykolayivshhyni-deputat-vidibrav-u-zhurnalistky-dyktofon-na-zasidanni-komisiyi-i29705
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury, Attack to Property
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1571144646302-3b13becb-cfa4-6″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
18 Sep 2019 | Belarus, Monitoring and Advocating Coverage, News and features
On the surface, Belarus is one of the quieter places for journalists – one rarely hears about gruesome violations, physical assaults or murders of media workers in this post-Soviet country. But a lack of horror stories does not mean there is a liberal policy towards the media. In 2017, Belarus scored 83 points out of 100 (100 indicating the least free) in the Freedom of the Press rating compiled by Freedom House, and in 2018 it was ranked 153rd out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders.
In a country where most media outlets are state-owned, one of the most common ways of interfering with journalism is the legislation banning foreign media workers and outlets from reporting without state accreditation – Article 22.9 of the Administrative Code. In 2018, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) recorded 118 fines imposed on freelance journalists collaborating with foreign media without accreditation, totalling €43,000.
No outlet faced the consequences of this policy like Belsat TV.
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 opportunities for advancing media freedom in these countries. The project collects, analyses and publicises limitations, threats and violations that affect journalists as they do their jobs. Its staff also advocate for greater press freedom in these countries and raises alerts at the international level. 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.
The curious case of Belsat TV
“In the spring of 2017, Belsat TV contributors have been repeatedly arrested, tried and heavily fined for covering the protests. The total amount of fines reached $9,000. In addition, our journalists spent more than 30 days in prison,” states the channel’s website.
The tensions between the office of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and the Poland-based, Belarus-centred Belsat TV date back to its founding in 2007. Lukashenko had called it a “stupid, uncongenial and unfriendly project” even before it launched. The independent media outlet is sponsored by the Polish government, and is owned by public broadcasting corporation Telewizja Polska.
As the channel’s website outlines: “Its original content is prepared by more than 100 associates from all over Belarus supported by around 80 editors, managers and technicians in Warsaw.”
The “associates” in question are independently-minded Belarusian journalists whose work is hindered by the restrictive state legislation. Belsat TV is not accredited or recognised in the country, and neither are any of its correspondents and stringers. The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly declined to accredit the outlet, prompting its journalists to do partisan work. The state punishes them with repeated fines, with no limit on how many times a single journalist can be punished.
“The definition of accreditation in Article 1(1) of the Law on Mass Media is as follows: ‘The confirmation of the right of a mass medium’s journalists to cover events organised by state bodies, political parties, other public associations, other legal persons as well as other events taking place in the territory of the Republic of Belarus and outside it’,” said BAJ law expert Volha Siakhovich.
In practice, she explains, the law blocks freelance journalists and independent media outlets from covering the activities of the government and makes accreditation a requisite for a career in journalism. Although refusing accreditation does not equal a total ban on a journalist’s professional activities, it creates obstacles for accessing information. This discriminatory structure is especially acute for freelance journalists and those who work for independent media outlets.
“Article 35(4) of the Law on Mass Media prohibits the activities of foreign journalists in Belarus without accreditation of the Foreign Ministry,” she said. “As Belarusian authorities are unable to control foreign media, they aim to control Belarusian citizens contributing to them. Their aim is to punish and intimidate in order to show that they are under their control at any given time.
“Under Article 22.9, the courts can rule that journalistic activity without accreditation equals ‘illegal production and/or distribution of media content’. The reason for prosecuting journalists for this offence is not the content of their work but that they were published through foreign media.”
And she added: “[When] freelancers are gathering information while filming or interviewing people, they can be detained and accused under Article 22.9. Police officers file reports against freelance journalists and send them to the court. In such cases, the usual evidence is the testimony of the police officers who detained the journalists, and of the people interviewed by the journalists. Then the judges sentence the accused to pay a fine. It’s not unusual if the fine exceeds an average monthly wage in the country [which is about €400].”
Case studies
Here are some of the incidents recorded by Index on Censorship between February and July 2019.
Ales Lyauchuk and Milana Kharytonava
On 31 May, a judge in the Maskouski district of Brest fined journalists Ales Lyauchuk and Milana Kharytonava for “illegal production and distribution of media content”. They were contributing to Belsat TV, covering the ongoing protests against the construction and launch of the iPower battery plant in the city. They were tried in absentia, and learned about the fines only upon returning from their holiday. They had to pay 1,020 Belarusian rubles each (about $1,000 in total).
This wasn’t the first time Lyauchuk and Kharytonava got fined this year. On 21 March, a judge fined them 2,250 Belarusian rubles (about $1,100). The pair had been repeatedly spotted covering protests against the same factory near Brest and interviewing local people, and the trial was based on reports filed by police.
“The materials of the case did not include information about the exact time of our being in the square, no names of people whom we had interviewed; there were no witnesses but, still, we have got a fine of 2,550 rubles,” Lyauchuk told his colleagues at Belsat TV.
On 18 April, the journalists were fined 1,275 Belarusian rubles (about $600) each, also for co-operating with Belsat TV without accreditation. The story they filmed was about the forgotten village of Veluyn, cut off from Brest by a lack of roads and public transportation.
In all, they were fined six times in 2018.
On 15 May, the trial of independent journalists Alena Shabunia and Viachaslau Lazarau took place in Navapolatsk. A judge found both journalists guilty of “illegal production and distribution of media content” under Article 22.9 and fined them 637.5 Belarusian rubles (over $300) each. The case was built around a video of an accident at the Polimir Navapolatsk plant that was broadcast on Belsat TV – the team interviewed worker Andrei Shvilpo, who saved his colleagues but was later convicted of causing harm to production.
Viktar Stukau, head of the Polatsk-Navapolatsk BAJ branch, told online outlet Charter27: “What these journalists did was the usual work of journalists. Moreover, according to our constitution, any person can create such materials, since everyone has a camera in a pocket, and can send them to social networks or to some mass media, Belarusian or foreign. How is it possible to prohibit this?”
On 30 April, Andrei Tolchyn, a Homel-based freelance journalist, was taken to court in connection with four unpaid fines. He was informed that his bank account had been frozen and he would have 10 days to pay the fines to regain access. The hefty fines for “illegal production of media content” came as a result of his unaccredited work for Belsat. The fines totalled 3,200 Belarusian rubles ($1,523). Tolchyn’s account was unblocked after he paid the fines but, in May, he filed a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee.
Tolchyn used to work with Konstantin Zhukovsky, producing video stories and publishing them on YouTube. Their content was used by a variety of media outlets, including Belsat, so the courts applied Article 22.9 and the journalists were hit with mounting fines. As a result, Zhukovsky and his family left the country in January this year.
On 15 April, a freelance journalist from Hlybokaye, Zmitser Lupach, stood trial in the Sharkaushchyna district court for contributing to Belsat TV without accreditation. A judge imposed a fine of 892.5 Belarusian rubles (about $440) over a news story about the economic situation and low salaries in the district. This was the second time Lupach was fined in a month: on 11 April, the same court fined him 1,020 Belarusian rubles ($485).
He was tried under Article 22.9 (illegal production and/or distribution of media content) and Article 23.34 (violation of the procedure for organising or conducting mass events).
In the first case, the journalist was punished for his report aired on Belsat TV; in the second, for raising a white-red-white flag during Freedom Day, the anniversary of the Belarusian People’s Republic.
Lupach was also tried on 21 February for a story aired on Belsat TV about the monument erected in honour of the Komsomol in Hlybokaye. A judge fined him 892.5 Belarusian rubles (around $430). The previous year, Lupach was in court nine times on the same charges.
On 11 April, a judge in the Leninski district court of Mahiliou fined freelance journalist Alina Skrabunova 1,275 Belarusian rubles ($600). She was found guilty of “participation in the illegal production of media content”, as her video about the opening of an inclusive cafe operated by wheelchair-users had been broadcast on Belsat TV. The police documentation contained the wrong date for the alleged violation and a different charge. However, Skrabunova lost the case.
On 15 March, the Vitsebsk district court found journalist Vitaly Skryl guilty of illegal production and distribution of media content under Article 22.9. He was fined 637.5 Belarusian rubles (about $300) for his video on the closure of an enterprise which was broadcast on Belsat TV. Skryl told Radio Raciyja that he wasn’t surprised by the fine as he’d been fined on a similar charge the year before, for covering the unemployment situation in Orshy.
On 1 February, Ales Kirkevich and Ales Dzianisau were fined 765 Belarusian rubles (about $370) each in the Leninski district court of Hrodna. The charge followed their story titled Historians Exploring the Ancient Hrodna Cellars which was broadcast on Belsat TV. Both journalists were charged with Article 22.9 offences.
However, journalists collaborating with Belsat TV weren’t the only ones who got fined. Bloggers and freelance reporters whose work appeared in foreign or unaccredited media outlets met the same fate.
On 12 April, freelance journalist Yauhen Skrabets was fined 765 Belarusian rubles ($364) in Brest for “production of information content for a foreign media outlet that was not accredited in the Republic of Belarus”.
His article, entitled Activists and Independent Journalists Not Allowed Into the Press Conference at the I-Power Plant, had appeared on the website of Belarusian Radio Racyja, which is based in Poland. Like Belsat, the radio station had been previously denied accreditation by the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Just a day before, the Leninski district court of Brest reviewed another case against the journalist on similar charges. The police report stated that he “interviewed without accreditation, thus violating the rights and obligations of a foreign media journalist”. As a result, a judge fined him 765 Belarusian rubles ($364). Skrabets insists that he never sent the article in question to Radio Racyja.
The judge assigned to the case, Aliaksandr Semianchuk, also handled the criminal case of the blogger Siarhei Piatrukhin, accused under Part 2 of Article 188 (“Slander”) and Part 2 of Article 189 (“Insult”) of the Criminal Code on 18 April. The criminal case was opened after a request by a police officer over a video on the blogger’s YouTube channel, Narodnyj Reportior, where people accused police officers of violence.
Piatrukhin was fined 9,180 Belarusian rubles ($4,590) and told to pay damages to the four police officers. The bill totalled $8,840, to be paid within a month, and the judge ordered him to pay the legal fees. The blogger also made a written undertaking not to leave the country, and his property was seized until his dues were paid.
But Piatrukhin remained defiant.
“I’m confident that if there wasn’t this case, there would be another one. They are demonstrating that, if they want, they would do anything,” he told Radio Svoboda. “To make me shut up they should at least shoot me. Whatever they do, they can’t hurt me any more. If they exile me, they’d make me a martyr, a star, draw attention to me. Look at how I live – I don’t have a car or anything. So they can go you-know-where with this fine and the compensation to the policemen. I’m not going to pay anything. Let them do whatever they want. Let them ban me from travelling abroad, I don’t care. This is my country, and I’ve never planned to leave it.”
Piatrukhin’s fundraising campaign, which he later launched on the MolaMola website in order to pay the fines, was suspended by the service provider on 5 May. It explained in a letter that “such activity could be seen as an attempt to evade criminal prosecution” and that it didn’t comply with the current Belarusian legislation. He was able to withdraw the money collected up until that date.
On 12 February, a judge in the Biaroza district court fined blogger Aliaksandr Kabanau 510 Belarusian rubles ($245) for failing to comply with the ruling of the Brest Economic Court. He was found guilty of damaging the reputation of a battery plant being built near Brest in his video published on YouTube. The court decided that Kabanau must remove the video – Lead Will End Up with Brest – from the platform, and publish an apology letter written on his behalf by the battery plant management. Kabanau refused to apologise, and the video has not been removed.
Andrei Bastunets, head of BAJ
The persecution of freelance journalists collaborating with foreign media began in 2014. This was not due to a change in legislation, but the police and the courts began to apply Article 22.9 in order to fine journalists for “illegal production and/or distribution of media products”.
The most difficult period was 2018, when the persecution intensified sharply. Before this, journalists of various foreign publications were fined. This year, it was only Belsat and Radio Rasyja.
Since the beginning of 2019, 38 fines have been imposed. The most recent penalty was on 31 May but, since then, the application of Article 22.9 has been suspended. Perhaps this is because Belarus is hosting the European Games and there are approaching elections. Usually, temporary “liberalisation” occurs before elections in the hope of a more favourable assessment by the international community. The degree of pressure on journalists is, in principle, determined by the political situation in the country.
By penalising freelance journalists for collaborating with foreign media, Belarus violates its international obligations – in particular, Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Belarusian Association of Journalists is in favour of lifting the ban on the activities of foreign journalists without accreditation.
Blocked Access
The second most common category of press freedom violation in Belarus this year is blocked access, as recorded by the Monitoring Media Freedom project. Cases range from denying accreditation for political events to journalists being detained prior to mass protests.
In Brest, blogger Aliaksandr Kabanau was detained by riot police in February as he left fellow blogger Siarhei Piatrukhin’s apartment.
The detention occurred just before the start of one of the weekly protests against the construction of a battery factory near Brest that have been taking place every Sunday for a year. Kabanau was released soon after the protest ended.
On 26 May, Piatrukhin was detained by Brest police on a flimsy pretext shortly before the start of an ecological protest. He was held for an hour.
On 9 July, police detained Belsat TV journalist Ihar Kuley and camera crew Syarhei Kavaliou and Maksim Harchanok, who were filming an episode of the programme Belsat Near You at the local market in Hantsavichy, in the Brest region. Officers told them to go to the police station, claiming they were not allowed to film there, and forced them to turn off their cameras. After the police got explanations, the journalists were released.
No journalists were allowed at the meeting held between Anatol Lis, the head of the Brest regional government, and environmental protesters on 12 June, despite the fact that three independent journalists had been included in the list of participants. Audio recording and photography during the meeting were banned.
The management of the iPower battery plant held a press conference on 11 June, but did not allow the majority of independent media representatives and bloggers regularly covering the protests and events connected with this plant to enter.
On 7 June, a Brestskaya Gazeta journalist was told she could not enter a new court building after its inauguration, citing her lack of accreditation.
The foreign ministry officer told Hrodna journalist Victar Parfionenka in a telephone conversation on 14 May that he had again been denied accreditation.
Parfionenka has been contributing to Radio Racyja for 10 years. Every year he appeals to the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for accreditation as a foreign correspondent and always gets rejected.
On 18 April, journalists for news website TUT.BY,news agency BelaPAN, newspaper Belorusy I Rynok and European Radio for Belarus were denied accreditation to cover the annual address by Alexander Lukashenko to the National Assembly the following day. This was despite two of them – BelaPAN’s Tattyana Karavenkova and Zmitser Lukashuk, special correspondent for European Radio for Belarus – having permanent accreditation in the parliament.
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. The project collects, analyses and publicises limitations, threats and violations that affect journalists as they do their job, and advocates for greater press freedom in these countries and raises alerts at the international level. 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.
