12 cases of “offenses” against journalist referred to court since January

From January to September 2019, the law enforcement officers investigated and brought to court 12 criminal proceedings against crimes against journalists.

Those are the figures from the response of the Prosecutor General's Office to the IMI's inquiry about the progress of investigation of crimes against the journalists.

In particular, the proceedings brought during this period before the court were:

• five criminal proceedings under Article 171 of the Criminal Code (“Obstruction of lawful professional activity of journalists”);
• five criminal proceedings under Article 345-1 (“Threatening or violence against journalist”);
• two criminal proceedings under Article 347-1 (“Deliberate destruction or damage to the property of a journalist”).

In total, from January to September 2019, the law enforcement officers registered 187 criminal proceedings over the offenses against mass media professionals, of which 58 were closed.

In particular, 136 criminal proceedings were registered under the Art. 171 (“Obstruction of lawful professional activity of journalists”) of the Criminal Code, of which 47 were closed;

38 criminal proceedings were registered under the Article 345-1 (“Threat or violence against a journalist”) of the Criminal Code, eight of which are closed;

10 criminal proceedings were registered under the Article 347-1 (“Deliberate destruction or damage to journalist's property”) of the Criminal Code, two of which are closed.

The law enforcement bodies also registered three criminal proceedings under the Article 348-1 (“Attempt on life of a journalist”), one of them was closed.

As IMI reported, in 2018, the law enforcement officers brought to court 22 criminal proceedings concerning the crimes committed against journalists.

In 2017, the law enforcement officers brought to court 23 criminal proceedings against the crimes committed against media professionals.

In 2016, the law enforcement agencies sent to court 31 indictments for crimes against the journalists.

In 2015, 11 criminal proceedings under the Article 171 of the Criminal Code were brought to court.