In Zakarpattia, journalist won case related to access to information based on article 171

Khustskyi rayon court of Zakarpatska oblast judged the head of Nyzhniobystrivska village council  who denied the journalist access to information, guilty of criminal offence (crime), and fined him for 3.4 thousand hryvnias (absolved due to Decree on Amnesty) and bound him to cover court expenses and expenses for attorney for the complainant in amount 7.6 thousand hryvnias, “Dostup do pravdy” reports. Media lawyer Oleksandr Burmahin mentioned that “this is the first example of not only administrative, but also criminal responsibility for violation of a journalist's rights”. According to the lawyer, it became possible to raise to the police the issue of responsibility for illegal denial to journalist of access information based on Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine since February of 2016. The lawyer said that the very fact of such sentences can considerably change the playing field in the country for journalists.