"Dumska" journalists denied access to an Odesa Oblast Council session
On June 23, Odesa Oblast Council staff did not allow "Dumska" journalists Oleksandr Himanov and Vitaliy Prus to attend an Odesa Oblast Council session, reports the media outlet.
According to the report, they were prevented from entering by order of the head of the Council's legal department, Roman Lebedyev, who apparently had questions about the publication's credentials. The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine member certificate did not help.
The editors said that they regarded this as a gross violation of the right to information and freedom of speech, and that they believed that the incident had to do it with their articles criticizing the Council's chair, Hryhoriy Didenko, and the "Servant of the People's" coalition with the banned OPFL which has emerged in the Oblast Council.
At the same time, "Dumska" noted that it was currently undergoing registration according to the procedure established by the Law of Ukraine "On Media".
The media outlet is also preparing a statement with the police, as it believes that the Oblast Council officialshave committed an offense provided for in Part 3 of Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obstructing the legal professional work of journalists).
Intent writes that, responding to the head of the European Solidarity faction, Mykhailo Shmushkovych, and his remarks on the journalists being prevented from entering the session hall, the Oblast Council chair, Hryhoriy Didenko, said that "We have heard that there was no mass media outlet called Dumska.net."
The IMI representative in Odesa oblast tried to get a comment from the Oblast Council regarding denying access to the journalists, but never received a reply.
As IMI reported, on June 20, National Guard officers refused to let "Dumska" journalists in to attend a meeting of the Odesa Oblast Council conciliation panel. They promised that a press office staff member would come to escort them soon, but no one showed up.
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