Chetverta Vlada journalist Serhiy Turovych faced obstruction and violent threats while filming the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Rivne Razom reception office on 4 September, Chetverta Vlada reports.
According to the news outlet, the journalist saw people queueing to receive free packs of macaroni near the public reception office of the Rivne Razom party, headed by Rivne’s acting mayor Viktor Shakyrzyan. The jounalist observed that the queue was mostly made up of elderly people who told him that the office sometimes handed out cooking oil as well.
Serhiy Turovych learned that to receive humanitarian aid, people must show their pensioner certificate and share their phone number at the Rivne Razom party reception office. The media outlet points that even though the people in the queue realised this was the party’s method of collecting their personal data, none of them were particularly bothered by it. People explained to the journalist that an opportunity to receive free groceries was very important for them, since their pensions were very low and such aid made their lives easier.
“The collected data is later used to greet someone on their birthday, for example. To text someone a reminder about some holiday and the like,” explained to Chetverta Vlada Andriy Tokarskyi, the head of the Civic Network Opora in Rivne.
Serhiy Turovych says that he showed his press ID and explained that he was on the job upon entering the reception office. He managed to film the office manager Ivanna Odeychuk writing down people’s data on a laptop while another woman was bringing out the macaroni. Then the women began to push the journalist out of the room, accusing him of being a provocateur and interfering with their work.
“You see how Chetverta Vlada journalists behave,” Ivanna Odeychuk told the crowd. Then the audience began to chase and shove the journalist. Many of those present also asked him whether he was eligible for the draft.
Later, one of the two women working in the reception office, Olena Symkiv, demanded that the journalist leave the area and said that the distribution of groceries would only resume after he left. Turovych had to leave the office because the crowd had become aggressive.
“Finally, sympathizing with the people in line, I left the reception office. Right as I made it past the exit I heard that I was a ‘jerk.’ A burly man in his seventies was shouting at me. […] He saied that I needed to ‘go to the front line’ instead of doing ‘provocations’. I explained that I had been in the army. The response to my words was quite indifferent, ‘I have been in the army too!'” said Serhiy Turovych.
The journalist added that he had decided against calling the police out of sympathy for the people wanting to get free macaroni and unwillingness to “make a show.”
In late April and June, the police closed two proceedings related to obstruction of reporting faced by Chetverta Vlada journalists.