60 cases for crimes against journalists opened during 2024, 4 submitted to court – Prosecutor General

The police have registered 60 proceedings on crimes against media professionals during 2024. Four of those were investigated and submitted to court with indictments (compared to seven such cases being submitted to court in 2023 and four in 2022), according to the reply given to the Prosecutor General's Office on October 17, 2024 to the IMI's query on the progress of investigations into crimes against journalists since the beginning of this year.

The data provided by the Prosecutor General's Office covers the period from January 1 to September 30, 2024.

Out of the total number of proceedings, 43 were registered under Article 171 ("Preclusion of the legal professional work of journalists") of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Of those, 17 were closed, one was submitted to court, and in 25 proceedings no decision has been made yet.

Another 16 proceedings were registered under Article 345-1 of the Criminal Code ("Threats or violence against a journalist"). Of those, two have been closed, three have been submitted to court, and in 11 proceedings no decision has been made yet.

Moreover, the police have registered one proceeding under Article 347-1 of the Criminal Code ("Deliberate destruction or damage to the property of a journalist"), on which no decision has been made yet.

Statistics for the previous years

According to IMI, throughout 2023, the police registered 77 proceedings on crimes against media professionals. Seven of them were investigated and submitted to court.

During 2022, the police registered 88 proceedings on crimes against media professionals. Of them, four cases were brought to court. Compared with 2021, when 27 cases were brought to court, the 2022 number of investigated cases dropped by 85%.

In 2021, the number of investigations into violations of journalists' rights grew by 69% compared to 2020. In 2021, the police investigated and submitted to court 27 cases filed under the "journalist articles" of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

In 2020, the police registered 249 proceedings on crimes against mass media representatives. Of these, 16 indictments were investigated and submitted to court.

In 2019, 259 proceedings on crimes against media workers were opened. Of those, 14 indictments were submitted to the court.

In 2018, 287 proceedings on crimes against journalists were opened. Of these, 22 proceedings were submitted to the court.

In 2017, 290 proceedings for crimes targeting journalists were registered. Of them, 23 proceedings were submitted to court.

In 2016, 31 indictments on crimes against mass media workers were sent to court, which included the earlier years.