Court re-opens case on attack on "Dytynets" journalists

Chernihiv TV channel "Dytynets" appealed against the police's decision to close proceedings in the case on the attack on the filming crew by businessman Serhiy Berestovy.

The channel's manager Iryna Lomonos reported this to the IMI representative in the Chernihiv oblast.

The decision to close the proceedings was passed on January 31, 2024 by Victoria Kazannyk, the Chernihiv National Police HQ investigator who is working on the case.

In turn, the journalists filed a complaint against Kazannyk's decision to the Desna District Court of Chernihiv city. On February 12, the court ruled in favor of the journalists.

"Judgement: to cancel the decision to close the criminal proceedings. The full wording is as follows: 'The decision to close the criminal proceedings adopted as a result of the pre-trial investigation is premature, adopted without a comprehensive, complete and objective investigation of the details of the case, and is therefore subject to cancellation,'" she said.

The editors note that Victoria Kazannyk investigated the situation superficially and took Berestovy and the witnesses, who are friends with the latter, at their word.

The spokeswoman of the Chernihiv oblast police department, Natalia Slabenyak, said in a comment to the IMI that an investigation was underway and the pre-trial investigation in the proceedings continued.

On March 30, 2023, businessman Serhiy Berestovy interfered with the work of the "Dytynets" filming crew, threatening the cameraman and the journalist and damaging the camera. The journalists were filming in a public space.

The television company provided the police with recordings from the journalists' video camera and phone. They recorded Serhiy Berestovoy threatening the cameraman.