In Mykolaiv region, official forbid journalist to film in school "because the school is the property of the head of the rayon council"

Vice-head of Novobuzkyi rayon administration (Mykolaivska oblast) Natalia Zavalniuk was forbidding the local journalist Yuriy Cheremis to film in school No.1 of the Novyi Buh city without consent of the building's owner - who is, according to her, the head  of the rayon council. She told this the local journalist Yuriy Cheremys over the phone, as IMI representative in Mykolaivska oblast reports. According to her, the school is the property of rayon council's head, therefore the journalist needs to obtain consent of the owner before any video recording in the building. A month ago a part of the local school collapsed, and the journalist wanted to cover how local authorities resolve this problem, but as he was preparing to go, he received the call from Natalia Zavalniuk, the official, forbidding him to do it. Any attempts to explain the rights of journalists to her failed, she insisted that "the owner" has a right to forbid any video records in the building. IMI media lawyer Maksym Ratushnyi said that the claims of the official do not have any legal basis. “The demands to the journalist over the phone, in addition to absurd wording, do not have any legal basis. And coming from vice-head of rayon state administration, these demands can constitute an attempt to pressure the journalist by misleading him about the property's ownership”, Ratushnyi explained.