Ban on Slidstvo.Info’s investigation into SBI director’s brother overturned in appeal

The Kyiv Court of Appeal on 24 September overturned a ruling by Kyiv’s Pecherskyi District Court, which had barred the Anti-Corruption Action Centre (ANTAC), Slidstvo.Info, and journalist Alina Stryzhak from publishing an investigation into 143 real estate properties owned by Oleksandr Sukhachov, the brother of State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) director Oleksiy Sukhachov, the ANTAC reports.

ANTAC said that in the investigation, the team reviewed open state registers and discovered facts suggesting questionable acquisition of 143 real estate properties (flats and offices in Kharkiv) by the SBI director’s brother.

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The lawsuit against the investigation’s authors was initiated by LLC Parkovyi-2, a company affiliated with the official’s brother. The firm took issue with the fact that Alina Stryzhak had sent them an official query ahead of publication, asking for comment on the circumstances surrounding the acquisition of the property.

Previously

On 6 July, the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv granted a motion by Parkovyi-2 and temporarily banned Slidstvo.Info, the Anti-Corruption Action Center, and journalist Alina Stryzhak from releasing and distributing the investigation into the assets of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) director’s brother, Oleksandr Sukhachov. In the lawsuit, the company claimed that banning the distribution of this information was not censorship since the law allowed such restrictions in certain cases.

Both Slidstvo.Info and the Anti-Corruption Action Center said that they viewed this as pressure on journalists and an attack on freedom of speech. The journalists will appeal the court’s ruling and seek to release the investigation.

IMI lawyer Volodymyr Zelenchuk has said that the court ban on publishing the unreleased investigation had the characteristics of a SLAPP.

On 7 July, the Media Movement along with several media and human rights organisations expressed concern about possible systemic pressure on investigative journalism by law enforcement agencies.

The Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv has stated that the ban on publishing the investigation was temporary.

On 13 July, Parkovyi-2 sued Slidstvo.Info, ANTAC, and journalist Alina Stryzhak after they requested comments for an investigation into real estate owned by Oleksandr Sukhachov, the brother of the State Bureau of Investigations director.

On 17 July, eight Ukrainian news outlets published the investigation into the 143 real estate objects found by Slidstvo.Info to be owned by the SBI director’s brother.

The released investigation got nearly 4 million views in three days.