Head of HR in Mykolaiv Internal Affairs Administration said he would close down “Prestupnosti.NET”. Media outlet considers this a threat

The head of HR in the local Ministry of Internal Affairs administration in Mykolaivska oblast Serhiy Bilous said if it he had it his way, he would have “disbanded the journalists and closed down the website “Prestupnosti.NET” long ago". The media outlet’s editorial staff considers this a threat, and complained about this to the Minister of Internal Affairs.

As "Prestupnosti.NET" reports, Bilous said this when he had a conversation with the officers of one of the local police departments after Marharyta Lukianova, whom he knows very well, was caught in the act of giving a bribe and many shady things that were happening in Mykolaiv police administration began to surface.

Bilous complained that he cannot sue an online media outlet, as, as he claimed, according to the law they are not even included into the "mass media" category, so because of this he thinks it would be a right thing to do to close it down. Later Bilous denied saying those words, yet the journalists found the audio record of his speech and sent it to the Minister. Marharyta Lukianova, mentioned before, was Bilous’s liaison – kind of an intermediary between the oblast’s top police administration and people who want "issues resolved" for a bribe. Also, the journalists reminded to the Minister that the wife of Mr.Bilous, Natalya Bilous, continues, in breach of the legislation in effect, to hold the position of the head of Investigation Department in Mykolaiv district department of police. She is notorious for her inaction in the case of the "Aidar" battalion fighters assaulting journalists at the site of a traffic accident, and the current policemen not taking any action to protect the journalists.