In May, journalists' work in courts was obstructed — IMI monitoring

In May, the situation with freedom of press in Ukraine remained stable, approximately at the level of the previous months. This is the data of Freedom Of Press Monitoring systematically conducted by NGO "Institute of Mass Information" on the territory of Ukraine.

According to ІМІ, in May there were 8 cases of obstruction to legal professional journalist activities, at that the majority of cases was related to court sessions (ban to record, or direct obstruction at court sessions). The journalists suffered from obstructions practically all over Ukraine — in Mykolaiv, Odesa, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Rivne, Kherson, and Kirovohrad.

In May, IMI experts also registered 3 facts of beatings and attacks against journalists, and 2 cases of threats and intimidations.

At the same time, in the occupied Crimea the pressure against independent journalists continues - in May, IMI managed to establish 5 such facts, all of them were related to FSB or occupying authorities’ pressure.

In total, since the beginning of the year, in Ukraine 21 case of beatings and attacks against journalists, 26 cases of obstruction to legal professional activities of journalists, and 7 cases of censorship were registered.

More details on "Freedom of press barometer" can be found at IMI’s website.