Court rules not to incarcerate deputy who threatened to kill journalist Anastasia Matsko

Anastasia Matsko (center). Photo by "Poltavska Khvylia"

The October District Court of Poltava convicted the district council deputy Serhiy Boyko of death threats and violent threats to the local journalist Anastasia Matsko and sentenced him to one year of probation supervision.

The judgement was passed today, October 21, reports "Poltavska Khvylia".

The court ordered Boyko to check in with the probation authority at regular intervals and to warn them in case his place of residence or work changes.

The deputy was also banned from talking to the victim. Over 28,000 hryvnias of court fees should be collected from him.

The journalist's lawyer Dmytro Semekha said that he would prepare an appeal after analyzing the judgement.

"I understand that, in the victim's opinion, this is too mild a punishment for such a crime as death threats," the lawyer added.

Previously

On March 29, 2023, Anastasia Matsko, a journalist at the online publication "Poltava Wave", has said that district council deputy, Serhiy Boyko, and the head of the welfare inspection, Maksym Malko, threatened her during a City Council session.

The police opened a case for Part 2 of Article 171 ("Obstructing the legal professional work of journalists") of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Later, the journalist's lawyer, Dmytro Semekha, requested that the Poltava police reclassify the case as threats instead of obstruction.

On May 29, Matsko and her lawyer filed a complaint with the Prosecutor General's Office due to the police's inaction. Two forensic examinations confirmed that the journalist received death threats, but the work of the prosecutors' remained insufficient, in her opinion.

On November 7, 2023, the deputy received a suspicion notice under Part 1 of Article 345-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (threats or violence against a journalist).

The trial began in February 2024.