Freedom of Speech Barometer for May 2022

Journalist Oleksandr Smetanko reported this to the IMI representative in Kirovohrad region.

According to the media outlet, despite the lack of a traditional announcement on the council's official website, the channel had information about the meeting and deployed a filming crew to cover the event. However, the journalists were not allowed into the meeting hall, with "agreed-upon restrictions" being mentioned as the reason.

The IMI representative asked the City Council to provide an explanation as to what was the reason for not allowing journalists to the deputies. Within a few days, we received a response from the legal department of the council, which was passed on through a representative of the "press office" Serhiy Yakunin. “Given the introduction of martial law in Ukraine, in order to protect the lives and health of persons who participated in the session, the information about the time and place of the sixth meeting of the ninth session was not published, no online stream was carried out, and no mass media representatives were  invited," the response reads.

IMI lawyer Roman Holovenko, having studied the "comment" provided by the council, noted that the answer did not explain the reasons for not allowing journalists to the meeting hall. To this end, a decision should have been made in advance to hold a so-called closed session. "If such a document is not available, and the response of the City Council does not indicate its existence, the situation with Kropyvnytsky journalists can be described as a violation of the law on access to information," said the lawyer.

2. Zaporizhzhia authorities prevented the media from filming buildings destroyed by the occupiers

25.05.2022 In Zaporizhzhia, law enforcement officers prevented journalists from several media outlets (061.ua, Channel 1 and Channel 5 correspondents) from filming civilian facilities destroyed by russian bombing. Journalists arrived at the scene a few hours after the bombing, but were not allowed to film.

This was reported by Zaporizhzhia journalists to the IMI representative in Zaporizhzia region.

We remind that on May 25 at about 5 am, four russian missiles were fired on Zaporizhzhia. One missile was shot down by Ukrainian air defense. The bombing has damaged one industrial facility, a bank, one of the largest shopping malls and more than 60 private homes in two parts of the city. Three hours after the bombing, journalists arrived at "Aurora" shopping mall to film.

According to 061.ua photo correspondent Kateryna Klochko, the police did not allow them to film on the spot, even the long shots. “We were there at about 8 am, standing in front of the ribbon that surrounded the mall, but filming from behind it was also not allowed. The police did not allow us to film even the houses nearby, where the windows have been blown out," she said.

Also, according to Klochko, the situation happened to them again near the private sector in another area which was badly affected by the missiles:

The journalist also noted that they had waited for more than an hour for a permission, but only were able to get it when they called the spokesman of Zaporizhia Regional Military Administration, Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ivan Arefyev. "We saw him there and started calling. He allowed those of us who were holding cameras to film near the shopping mall. We also called him in the private sector, he was there and escorted us. But it wasn't right away, we waited for about an hour near the shopping mall, and at least two more hours in the private sector," said Kateryna Klochko.

Channel 5 journalist Denis Rozenkov said that he and the cameraman were near "Aurora" shopping mall at about 7 am, then other Zaporizhzhia and foreign media outlets arrived. "Before leaving, the head of ZRMA told us, 'Please shoot from a distance while the investigative actions are ongoing.'" In fact, we did not manage to do this. I fully support the work of the police and the Security Service who detained all "onlookers" and forced them to delete the videos from their phones. But we are not "onlookers." We have certificates from the Ministry of Defense, some of us have taken courses at the department, where they taught us what, where, when and after what time things may be shown on air, what can and should be filmed. We have papers from the JFO, which are issued by the SSU only in the capital and in Kramatorsk. We have editorial certificates and passes from ZRMA. But Zaporizhzhia policemen and SSU officers repeatedly offered some of us to, excuse me, shove those certificates up somewhere to those who issued this document to the reporters," said the journalist.

According to him, it was forbidden to shoot anything until about 10.30. “Ruslan Tkachuk, a spokesman for the Defense Forces of the Zaporizhia Region, was at the site of the bombing of the mall. I personally heard them send him, excuse me, to hell, too, and tell him to look for ZRMA spokesman Ivan Arefyev. It is good that we managed to call Ivan, who finally took the cameramen and photographers to see the place. At that time, the picture we had was quite weak, because the avenue had been almost entirely cleaned up, as there were no people working in public utilities, rescuers and other services near Aurora," the journalist said.

According to Denis Rozenkov, in the private sector, they were forbidden to film even on the streets that go parallel to the place where the missile had hit. “It is very annoying that there is a clear time frame, there are rules about what we do not show and what we do not talk about, but we still need to do our job. Namely, we need to show that the city is not just fighting, but that it has rescue services that, for example, put out fires. There are communal services that clean up the rubble, there are many other things. In the end, we filmed it all secretly, from a car or in some other way, which is simply unacceptable in these conditions," the journalist said.

IMI lawyer Roman Holovenko considers such actions as interference with journalistic activity. “The state has not established a clear regulatory ban on filming the places where the missiles hit. However, there is a joint statement from the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Defense and the media, but it also says that 'journalists can gather information on the ground immediately after the shelling. At the same time, publishing photos and videos of the events taken by media representatives and journalists at the site of hostilities is allowed after 12 hours in the case of military facilities, and after 3 hours in the case of civilian facilities," said the IMI lawyer.

As IMI reported, on March 28, Ukrainian and foreign journalists, as well as media and public organizations and movements, called on the authorities to take immediate steps to end the harrassment of journalists and to work out clear regulations for covering russian shelling attacks.

The authorities and the Media Movement later agreed that journalists can publish photos and videos of military facilities 12 hours after the end of hostilities, and 3 hours later in the case of civilian facilities. A joint statement has been issued by Media Movement, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

Freedom of speech protection

The authorities' response to freedom of speech violations – 3

1. Zhytomyr security guard who threatened a journalist with a bat notified of suspicion

06.05.2022 Zhytomyr region authorities notified a Zhytomyr resident of suspicion for threatening Oleksandr Kryzhanivskyi, a journalist with the Anti-Rating investigation program, and interfering with filming the buildings on Teteriv riverbank.

Zhytomyr regional prosecutor's office reports about it.

The suspicion note was issued under Part 1 of Art. 345-1 (threat of violence made against a journalist due to performance by this journalist of his/her lawful professional activity) and Part 1 of Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (willful preclusion of lawful professional activities of journalists).

According to the investigation, in August last year, a 63-year-old suspect, calling himself a security guard of private property, forbade the journalist to film a story about the construction of private houses on Teteriv riverbank in Zhytomyr.

"He aggressively threatened the journalist with physical violence, attacking him with a wooden bat with a metal part on it and using obscene language. Thus, the person involved in the case prevented the journalist from performing his professional duties during the filming of private houses built on land plots in the riverbank zone," the prosecutor's office said.

As IMI reported, on August 19, 2021, in Zhytomyr, during the filming of the Anti-Rating investigative journalism program, a security guard of private buildings on the Teteriv riverbank attacked journalist Oleksandr Kryzhanivsky with his fists and threatened him.

Alexander said that they were filming the house where the deputy of the city council and the chairman of the budget commission Yuriy Moiseyev lived.

“We came to shoot the material for a program about building construction on Teteriv riverbank. We learned that the city council deputy and chairman of the budget commission Yuriy Moiseyev has a house here. This information was confirmed to us by a security guard. We also spoke amicably to one of the neighbors, Leonid Krieger, who did not mention who lived next door. At first, the security guard did not interfere with the filming, but when we talked on the phone with one of the owners – the man attacked me, first with obscene swearing and fists, then with a bat. No one was injured, the cameraman and I did not risk our lives and left. I did not call the police. I published information about this situation on my social media, after which I received a call from the prosecutor's office and was told that the case had been opened. Yuriy Moiseyev confirmed in a telephone conversation that he has been living in the house we were filming for about two months now," the journalist said.

Zhytomyr District Prosecutor's Office has opened a criminal investigation into the threat of violence against journalists (Part 1 of Article 345-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

2. Prosecutor's Office issues a suspicion notice to the lawyer who attacked "Skhemy" cameraman in Chabany

30.05.2022 On May 30, the Brovary District Prosecutor's Office issued a suspicion notice to a lawyer for attacking the cameraman of the journalist investigation program "Skhemy" (Radio Liberty) Borys Trotsenko in Chabany (Kyiv region) in March of 2019.

This was announced by the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor's Office and the Department for the Protection of Society and State Interests of the National Police of Ukraine.

The lawyer is suspected of deliberately beating a journalist because of their professional activities (Part 2 of Article 345-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

According to the investigation, the "Skhemy" cameraman had been filming the premises of the village council in Chabany, Kyiv region. The lawyer attacked the cameraman and hit the video camera, breaking it. Having examined Borys Trostenko, doctors diagnosed him with a possible concussion.

The issue of choosing a measure of restraint is currently being resolved.

As IMI reported, on March 6, 2019, while filming in Chabany village, Kyiv region, the filming crew of the "Skhemy: Corruption in Detail" program, consisting of journalist Kateryna Kaplyuk and cameraman Borys Trotsenko, was attacked. The incident took place at the Chabany village council. The man injured the cameraman and broke the video camera. After the examination at the hospital, doctors diagnosed Borys Trotsenko with a concussion.

In July 2020, the police dropped the case for the obstruction of the work of "Skhemy" journalists. They were attacked in the spring of 2019 in the village of Chabany in the Kyiv region during the filming of a story about the allocation of state land managed by the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine to private owners. The police stated that reason for dropping the case was "the expiration of the pre-trial investigation period." "Skhemy's" lawyers were going to contest the decision. Subsequently, on May 31, 2021, proceedings were opened on the grounds of a criminal offense under Part 2 of Art. 345-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

3. Security guard who prevented a journalist from filming a luxury building will face trial

31.05.2022 Prosecutors of the Zhytomyr Regional Prosecutor's Office have filed an indictment against a Zhytomyr resident for threatening Oleksandr Kryzhanivsky, a journalist with the Anti-Rating investigation program, and obstructing the filming of the buildings on the Teteriv River embankment.

Zhytomyr Regional Prosecutor's Office announced this.

The investigation and the according examinations lasted for more than nine months.

According to the investigation, in August last year, a 63-year-old suspect, calling himself a security guard of a private land, forbade the journalist to film a story about the construction of private houses on the Teteriv riverbank in Zhytomyr.

"The defendant… threatened to beat him, swinging a wooden stick at him and swearing obscenely," the Prosecutor's Office stated.

As IMI reported, on August 19, 2021, in Zhytomyr, during the filming of the Anti-Rating journalist investigation program, a security guard of private buildings on the Teteriv riverbank attacked journalist Oleksandr Kryzhanivsky with his fists and threatened him.

Zhytomyr District Prosecutor's Office has opened a criminal investigation into the threat of violence against journalists (Part 1 of Article 345-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

On May 6, 2022, Zhytomyr region authorities notified a Zhytomyr resident of suspicion for threatening Oleksandr Kryzhanivsky, a journalist with the Anti-Rating investigation program, and interfering with filming the buildings on Teteriv riverbank. The suspicion note was issued under Part 1 of Art. 345-1 (threat of violence made against a journalist due to performance by this journalist of his/her lawful professional activity) and Part 1 of Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (willful preclusion of lawful professional activities of journalists).

The journalistic community's response – 4

1. Human rights organizations demand to release Iryna Danilovych, abducted in Crimea, to be released

09.05.2022 Several human rights organizations demand the release of citizen journalist Iryna Danilovych who went missing in Crimea. This is said in the organizations' statement published on ZMINA website.

Namely, the organizations appeal to the international community and foreign governments to:

• demand that the russian federation urgently identifies the whereabouts of Iryna Danilovych and releases her, as well as all other victims of enforced disappearances in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol;
• increase diplomatic, economic, and other pressure on the russian federation to accelerate the deoccupation of Crimea, Donbas and all other territories of Ukraine;
• impose personal sanctions on russian officials and members of the occupation administration involved in the enforced disappearances and other gross human rights violations in all occupied territories of Ukraine.

Here is the full text of the statement:

On April 29, 2022, activist and citizen journalist Iryna Danilovych went missing in the occupied Crimea while returning home from work. On the same day, Russian security forces searched Iryna's house in the village of Vladyslavivka near Feodosia, where she lived with her parents, and seized her phone and equipment.

The representatives of the occupying power showed a search warrant but did not give Iryna’s parents a copy of the document. In addition, security officers did not inform them of the daughter’s whereabouts, only stating that she was allegedly arrested for 10 days for passing some “non-confidential information” to a non-governmental organization. As of May 7, the ninth day after she went missing, it is known nothing about where Iryna Danylovich stays and in what status.

The law enforcement agencies of the occupying power do not take effective measures to search for Iryna Danilovych. Iryna’s father and lawyer filed a report on the abduction with several agencies in Crimea but received no response. In addition, there is information that a video capturing the moment of Iryna being abducted appeared, but Russian law enforcement agencies for a long time refused to attach this video to the case file and provide her father with a copy.

The abduction of Iryna Danilovych has signs of enforced disappearance under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. During the search, Russian security officers informed Iryna’s parents about her arrest, but for nine days in a row they have not provided information about her whereabouts, charges brought against her, and the place and time of possible court hearings in her trial. In addition, the detainee does not have access to a lawyer, as a result of which she is deprived of legal aid.

Iryna Danilovych worked as a nurse. She was also a citizen journalist, covered the problems of the health care system in Crimea and disseminated information about the war in Ukraine. Before the war, Danilovych cooperated with several media and human rights initiatives (InZhyr-Media, Crimean Trial) and ran her own project, Crimean Medicine Unwrapped, speaking about the rights of health professionals. Danilovych also took an active part in the trade union movement and headed the Crimean branch of the Alliance of Physicians. Hence, Danilovych was subjected to administrative pressure and was fired from the substance misuse department of the Feodosia Medical Association. She was threatened with a lawsuit because of her trade union activities.

As a reminder, the Russian Federation has imprisoned 13 Crimean journalists. These are Crimean Tatar citizen journalists Osman Arifmetemetov, Marlen Asanov, Asan Akhtemov, Remzi Bekirov, Tymur Ibrahimov, Server Mustafayev, Seyran Saliyev, Ruslan Suleymanov, Rustem Sheikhaliyev, and Amet Suleymanov, as well as journalists Oleksiy Bessarabov, Vladyslav Yesypenko, and Nariman Dzhelyal. Dzhelyal is the First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, a former journalist.

While the main attention of the international community is focused on the mass atrocities of Russian troops on mainland Ukraine, the reprisals pursued by the Russian occupying power in Crimea remain virtually unnoticed. Arbitrary searches, arrests, torture in places of detention, sentences in politically motivated criminal cases and other gross human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity continue to be committed on the occupied peninsula.

The abduction of Iryna Danilovych in Crimea amid large-scale enforced disappearances in Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and other occupied regions of Ukraine testifies to a real threat to life, health, and freedom of civil society activists, human rights defenders, and other people in all territories temporarily controlled by Russian-occupation forces. In 2014-2021, according to CrimeaSOS data, 44 people became victims of enforced disappearances in the occupied Crimea, the fate and whereabouts of 15 of them are still unknown.

In view of the above, we call on the international community, including UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe Steering Committee on Media and Information Society, PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, PACE General Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, representatives of the EU, European External Action Service, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, and International Committee of the Red Cross, within all their possible powers and mandates to:

• Demand that the Russian Federation urgently determine the whereabouts and release Irina Danilovych and all other victims of enforced disappearances in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
• Assist the Government of Ukraine in finding and investigating cases of enforced disappearances in the occupied territories.
• Provide comprehensive support to victims of enforced disappearances, their relatives, as well as victims of other gross human rights violations, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
• Continue to monitor and document human rights violations, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in the occupied Crimea and include their regular reports on the human rights situation in Ukraine.

We call on the governments of foreign countries to:

• Increase diplomatic, sanctions, and other pressure on the Russian Federation to accelerate the de-occupation of Crimea, Donbas, and all other territories of Ukraine.
• Impose personal sanctions on Russian officials and employees of the occupation administration involved in enforced disappearances and other gross human rights violations in all occupied territories of Ukraine.
• Provide comprehensive support to victims of enforced disappearances, their relatives, as well as victims of other gross human rights violations, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in all occupied territories of Ukraine.
• Use the mechanism of universal jurisdiction to prosecute persons involved in enforced disappearances, torture, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in all occupied territories of Ukraine.

The statement was signed by: CrimeaSOS, Regional Center for Human Rights, Human Rights House Crimea, Human Rights Center ZMINA, Center for Civil Liberties, Institute of Mass Information, Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research, Cherkasy Human Rights Center, Open Dialogue Foundation, Regional Council of Ukrainians of Crimea, Taurian Humanitarian Platform, Human Rights Center "Action," Crimean Human Rights Group, "Almenda" Civic Education Center, Sova Expert Group, Association of Relatives of the Kremlin Political Prisoners, Media Initiative for Human Rights, Union of Internally Displaced Persons, Crimean Center for Business Cooperation "Ukrainian House," National Union of Journalists of Ukraine.

2. The media community calls to exclude pro-russian hosts from participating in national telethons

12.05.2022 Ukrainian journalists and human rights groups are calling for the exclusion of hosts who have previously played along with the enemy's rethoric and used to spread kremlin propaganda for many years.

This is stated in an address to the President of Ukraine and the Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine regarding the participation of hosts who used to distribute pro-russian propaganda in the "United News," FREEDOM, and other telethons that call themselves "national."

This is first of all about Vasyl Holovanov, Tigran Martirosyan, Natasha Vlashchenko, Tetyana Honcharova, Nazar Dovhyy, Volodymyr Poluyev, Anna Stepanets, Anastasia Dauhule.

According to the address, these hosts have promoted kremlin narratives about Ukraine being ruled externally from the US, "discrimination" against the russian language, the "civil war" in Donbas, the legitimacy of russia's occupation of Crimea, and more.

"As none of them have publicly acknowledged the fact that they have been playing along with the enemy for many years, the continued participation of these hosts on air may be used as an indult by them," the address says.

The authors of the address call on the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, and the owners of TV channels participating in national telethons to exclude these hosts from the air.

"Now we have the chance to clear out the Ukrainian media space and to set up an institute of reputation to protect Ukraine from repeating the story in the future," the statement said.

The address is open for signing, send your full name and the media or organization you are affiliated with to [email protected].

Here is the full text of the address:

The address of Ukrainian journalists and public organizations to the President of Ukraine and the Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine regarding the participation of hosts who used to spread pro-russian propaganda in the "United News," FREEDOM, and other media marathons that call themselves "national."

With the beginning of the full-scale offensive of the Russian Federation, state, public and private TV channels of Ukraine were able to unite to confront the enemy on the information front. The joint news was a new and unique experience, when during the war, the media has not been subjected to severe censorship, but continued to spread information that is important to the people, from the course of the hostilities to human tragedies and victories.

However, the national telethons, including the foreign-language channel FreeDom and other media marathons that call themselves "national," are attended by TV hosts who, until recently, had been working for pro-russian TV channels. The information policy of these channels was based on the promotion of kremlin narratives about US external governance in Ukraine, the "discrimination" of the russian language, the "civil war" in the Donbas, the legitimacy of russian occupation of Crimea, and more. Various methods have been used for this, from fake US Congress hearings to marathons about "soroslings", talks of "US biolabs" and even attempts at teleconferences with russia. These hosts are, first of all, Vasyl Holovanov, Tigran Martirosyan, Natasha Vlashchenko, Tetyana Honcharova and Nazar Dovhy, Volodymyr Poluyev, Anna Stepanets, Anastasia Dauhule. We are concerned about the participation of these people in the telethons designed to be a unified information weapon against russian fakes and propaganda.

Ukraine has been resisting russian aggression for more than two months. At the same time, the authorities are working out mechanisms for the future restoration of Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. In order not to repeat the mistakes of the post-Maidan period, when some politicians and activists soon felt their own impunity and began to spread pro-russian narratives and outright fakes on TV channels, manipulating the public opinion and the emotions of Ukrainian citizens, we call on the National Council, MCIP, and the national telethons to exclude these hosts from the air, ensure the audit of these people, and, before that, give a public assessment of their participation in the "United News," FREEDOM, and other media marathons that call themselves "national." We propose to contact the monitoring organizations, which are ready to provide the National Council and the MCIP with analytical information on the activities of these TV hosts between 2014 and 2022.

As none of them have publicly acknowledged the fact that they have been playing along with the enemy for many years, the continued participation of these hosts on air may be used as an indult by them.

We count on a prompt response from the Ukrainian authorities, first and foremost the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko.

Now we have the chance to clear out the Ukrainian media space and to set up an institute of reputation to protect Ukraine from repeating the story in the future.

3. Ukrainian media community calls to revoke the Pulitzer prize of the journalist who denied the Holodomor

16.05.2022 The Association of Ukrainian Media, Journalists and Public Organizations "Media Movement" issued an address to the Pulitzer Prize Committee to revoke the award of Walter Duranty, who headed the Moscow bureau of The New York Times in 1922–1936. In his writings, Duranty denied the Holodomor and publicly supported Stalinist propaganda.

Here is the full text of the address:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We, the Ukrainian journalists who signed this petition, are grateful to the Committee for noting our work in covering the Russian-Ukrainian war and countering Russian propaganda. This award is a great honor for those of us who have clearly seen the difference between "freedom of speech" and "Russian propaganda" all these years since 2014, when Russia attacked Ukraine.

At the same time, this award was the impetus to turn to you in regards to Walter Duranty. The journalist, a longtime head of the NYT office in Moscow, won Pulitzer in 1932 for a series of manipulative reports from the Soviet Union. In these reports, he justified the existence of concentration camps, explained the need to destroy the enemies of Soviet power, and justified the need for Stalinist totalitarianism. In his articles, Walter Duranty later supported Soviet propaganda and denied the Holodomor in Ukraine, which starved more than 6 million of our citizens to death.

The reasons why Mr. Duranty covered Stalin's horrific totalitarian regime and the entire USSR in this way may warrant a discussion. But there is no doubt that his apologetic reports, which were even rewarded by the Pulitzer Prize, had a profound effect on the way the United States and the rest of the world perceived the Soviet dictatorship. And it was these reports that helped establish Stalin as a 'wise' politician, and not as a bloodthirsty tyrant and Hitler's accomplice in World War II, in the eyes of the international community.

In 2003, the Committee considered a similar request in detail and decided to uphold its decision. At the same time, we draw your attention to the fact that the current war between Russia and Ukraine is a consequence of the uncritical attitude of the Western world to the Russian tradition of totalitarianism. And Mr. Duranty's work has been very helpful in putting a mask of humanity and civilization on this regime, a mask that was often seen as its true face. We do not doubt the stylistic perfection of his texts. But, in our opinion, even the most impeccable reports do not deserve an award if they are based on lies, manipulation and justification of mass murder.

The esteemed Committee commended Ukrainian journalists "for courage, endurance and bravery in reporting the truth." We now call on you to show courage by acknowledging Mr. Duranty's mistake and revoking his award.

Sincerely,

Members of the Association of Ukrainian Media, Journalists and Public Organizations "Media Movement."

4. Ukrainian media workers call to expel the Russian Union of Journalists from the International Federation of Journalists

19.05.2022 The Association of Ukrainian Media, Journalists and Public Organizations "Media Movement" appealed to the International Federation of Journalists to expel the Russian Union of Journalists from its ranks, Detector Media reports.

Here is the full text of the address:

"We appeal to the International Federation of Journalists with regards to the unjustified nature of the membership of such an organization as "Russian Union of Journalists" in its ranks. This issue has already been raised at the IFJ in early March by a number of representatives from northern European countries. After the Russian aggression against Georgia in 2008, and against Ukraine in 2014, it became clear, and from 2022, abundantly clear that Russia is not just a totalitarian state, but also systematically violates international law and the sovereignty of neighboring countries. At the same time, such a policy of the Russian Federation was not met with adequate resistance from representatives of the country's civil society, including journalists.

Since 2000, Russia has de-facto been ruled only by Putin; he is the personification of modern Russian government, which has remained unchanged for decades, and whose opponents are being sent to the next world in the most brutal way. The "Russian Union of Journalists" is financed from the state budget of the Russian Federation annually with a sum of almost 100 million rubles (see, for example, Annex 24), i.e., this structure is dependent on the Russian dictatorial regime. While, according to the IFJ Constitution of 2019–2022 (subparagraph “g,” paragraph 3), one of its goals is to maintain the societal function of journalism as a pillar of democracy and freedom, in the case of the "Union of Journalists," this alleged journalistic union is being funded by a totalitarian regime.

At a time when Russia ranks around 150th in the freedom of speech rating, we do not see an adequate response to this state of affairs from the Russian Union of Journalists, including a proper response to censorship and harassment of the remnants of genuine journalism by the Russian authorities.

After all, such a large-scale and long-lasting aggression cannot take place without some support from Russian society. One may question the extent to which opinion polls reflect the level of Russian society's support for aggression against Ukraine, but both on social media and in the Russian media, we are seeing an influx of chauvinism permeating the Russian society. In the Russian society, it is considered normal to view Ukraine as a non-state, and Ukrainian culture and identity as second-rate or non-existent / artificially created (and this is typical not only for the government, but also for opposition figures). The Third Reich situation is clearly being repeated, with totalitarian power at the top and a society thirsting for a geopolitical revanche at the bottom.

Journalism should present different points of view, but it should not rebroadcast government propaganda and hate speech (as reflected in subparagraph "n" of paragraph 3 of the IFJ Constitution). We believe that the Russian Union of Journalists has failed this task, as it has not responded properly to the rise of Russian chauvinism and the government's indulgence in such processes.

In view of the above, we believe that the "Russian Union of Journalists" should be expelled from the International Federation of Journalists on the basis of subparagraph "b" of paragraph 15 of the IFJ Constitution. We call on the domestic authorized representatives of the IFJ (Serhiy Tomilenko of NUJU and Serhiy Shturkhetsky of IMUU) to include an according item in the agenda of the IFJ Congress, which will take place from 31.05 to 03.06 in Oman!"

Media Movement is a community that brings together journalists from leading Ukrainian media, investigative journalists, and experts from media NGOs.