Alyona Bereza, journalist with the Khmelnytskyi-based news website ZHAR.INFO, was barred from attending the a hearing at the State Inspectorate for Architecture and Urban Planning (SIAUP) on 18 March, Alyona Bereza reported to the Institute of Mass Information.
According to the journalist, the decision was made by the SIAUP chief inspector of construction supervision, Yulia Mazur. The official claimed that as per her regulations, such hearings are not supposed to involve outsiders and that the defendant in the case was unwilling to have journalists present.
“Having been denied, we said that we would call the police and report it as obstruction of professional journalism. So we did. We filed a statement and an explanation. The police responded quickly, but for some reason, after talking with the official, they started trying to explain to us in more detail why we had not been allowed in, which seemed quite odd,” said Alyona Bereza.
Nevertheless, the police took down the details and heard the journalists’ explanation. So far, the news outlet has not been notified of any proceedings having been opened. In case they refuse, the team will file a complaint with the court.
The Institute of Mass Information’s lawyer Volodymyr Zelenchuk believes the incident may consitute obstruction of legal reporting.
According to him, the procedure for imposing fines for urban planning offenses, which regulates the trials in such cases, does not bar journalists or any other persons from attending the hearings.
“Moreover, the procedure clearly requires that the hearings be open. Combined with journalists’ right to access information and to unhindered access to government bodies’ premises and open events hosted by these bodies, the absence of a clause that would limit third party access to such SIAUP hearings gives every reason to believe that the denial was unlawful. Therefore, there are indeed signs that obstruction of the journalist’s legal reporting may have taken place in this case,” the lawyer explained.