Ukraine: on the election daу most cases of violations of journalists’ rights were connected with physical aggression

8 cases of violations of journalists’ rights were registered in Ukraine on October 26. In the category “Physical aggression” – 6 cases. And one case in the categories “Censorship. Access to public information", “Internet pressure” each.

Category “Physical aggression”

In Odesa the camera crew of Channel 7 was not allowed to enter the polling station No.511336 of the electoral district No.135 in Prymorskyi rayon which is located in the premises of a military hospital. Besides, journalists of Dumskaya and Reporter failed to get into this polling station.

District electoral commission No.37 (Dnipropetrovsk oblast, Kryvyi Rih rayon) held a meeting of the commission not allowing journalists and observers to attend. Besides, Oleh Shcherbak, a journalist of the newspaper “Tochky opory”, who came to the meeting with mobile team of observers from public network “OPORA”, did not get the access to it.

In Kherson the authorised person of Yuriy Odarchenko, a Parliamentary candidate of electoral district No.182, demanded that the journalist from “Spilno TV” stop broadcasting a voting process. At electoral district No. 182 a man in camouflage prevented a journalist Oleksandr Karpenko from photographing. In school No.27 (district No.182, polling station No.743) an electoral commission refused to register journalists from local mass media.

At precinct electoral commission No.210267 (village of Repinne, Mizhhirskyi rayon, Zakarpattia oblast) members of a commission threatened Nadiya Vats, a journalist of all-Ukrainian public publication “Tochka opory”, who fixed the violation of electoral legislation on the part of the commission.

Category “Censorship. Access to public information”

In Odesa at electoral district No.135 (Prymorskyi rayon of Odesa) the electoral commission divided the places for observers from those for journalists with a red tape. Moreover those places for journalists and observers were far from the commission table.

Category “Internet pressure”

The director of TV and radio company “Vezha” (the city of Konotop, Sumy oblast) claimed that on the election day, October 26, there was an external interference with a TV company server. As a result an interview with Parliamentary candidate was on air.

For more information, please visit www.imi.org.ua and www.freedomhouse.org/ukraine-media-watch.

This report was prepared under the Media Watch Network project that IMI runs with Freedom House and the support of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.