In Dnipro, TV channel camera operator had his phone broken during traffic accident recording

In Dnipro, the cameraman of channel 11 Anton Filipp had his phone broken as he tried to make a video record of traffic accident. This incident took place on August 16, the TV channel's website reports. As the channel's story goes, the cameraman was going home and became a witness of a traffic accident. He stopped and started video recording with his phone. An unknown man started threatening him, and after he introduced as a mass media worker, became even more aggressive, pried the phone from his hands and threw it on the ground, breaking the device. The traffic accident took place at Voronezhska street - two cars collided, a Kia nad a Ford. At this time, cameraman Anton Filipp was riding by  on his bicycle. “The Ford turned over, and the Kia was standing behind the crossroads, without numberplates, who was at fault. I reached for my phone to record it all, it is kind of my professional character deformation - you see it, you film it. After I did, a man approached me, pried off my phone from my hands, and threw it on the ground”, Anton Filipp described the incident. The cameraman filed an official complaint to the police on the same day, but learned later that it was sent to the wrong district department. “This type of response from the “protagonists” of filmed stories or simply people being photographed or filmed is quite frequent, but it still can be a crime", IMI media lawyer Maksym Ratushnyi commented. - "Even in case of illegal recording (which is not the case here) - it is not allowed to use force or to damage someone's property to protect one's rights. Depending on the intention, it can be defined as hooliganism or intentional damaging of property, or intentional damaging of journalist's property related to his professional duties”.