In Zaporizhzhia, Party of Regions member did not allow the journalists to their seats

In Zaporizhzhia, the first vice head of the city organization of the Party of Regions Anatoliy Striganov would not let the correspondent of the online media outlet 061 Oksana Sanfirova to the seats, from where the journalists were filming, and explained that it was because the media outlet wrote bad things about the Party of Regions, informs the website 061.

As the media outlet writes, on that day the city hosted a large-scale reconstruction of liberation of the city. Journalists of some media outlets were allowed to film the event from the seats. Yet, when the correspondent of 061 asked if she could come up to the seats, activists of the Party of Regions asked for Striganov’s permission. The latter, when he learned which media outlet the correspondent represented, said: “But this is an oppositional media. No, we will not let you through, you write bad things about the Party of Regions!”

In the comments for the Institute of Mass Information, Oksana Sanfirova said that the seats were in fact reserved for veterans, yet various other people, including journalists, were allowed there for filming.

“For filming, the journalists started to ask to let them to those seats, in particular, they let through “Novy Region”. When I asked to let me through, activists of the Party of Regions said that they need to ask their boss. He was standing right there, and asked my journalist ID. Seeing it, he said that 061 is an oppositional media outlet. “No, we will not let you through, you write bad things about us”, - shared Sanfirova.

The media lawyer of the Institute of Mass Information Roman Golovenko believes this case is discrimination against the media outlet that criticizes the authorities.

“If the historical reconstruction was conducted for state budget funds, they had to provide access for all journalists, even without credentials, or no one at all (if the seats were for veterans only). In this case, discrimination of the media outlet that criticizes authorities is obvious”, Golovenko said.