In Lutsk, the court banned recording of session by journalists using portable equipment

On April 12, the judges of Volynskyi district administrative court banned journalists to conduct photo and video recording of the session on restoration to their positions of the police officers, who failed their attestation.

In particular, the journalist of “Hromadske.Volyn” Mariya Domanska wrote on her Facebook page that the judges banned recording all sessions with a video camera, thereby violating the Law of Ukraine “On court organization and status of judges”, which gives the journalists a right to conduct photo- and video- and audio recording using portable equipment. The journalist is sure that this matter is something of great importance to the society, as restoration of police officers who failed their attestation through the court needs to be at least covered in mass media. Also, the journalist says that even in the same court some judges ban recording, and others do not, and the underlying motivation of such decisions is unclear for the journalists. In this case, the judges refused to explain why they impose such a ban, and when journalists mentioned that this ban constitutes an obstruction to journalist activities, the judges said that statements like that will be considered an attempt to pressure the court.