Khmelnytsky editors ask the court to order the City Council to provide the requested information
In early May, the editors of the Khmelnytsky media outlet ZHAR.INFO filed an appeal with a court, requesting that the Khmelnytsky City Council be obliged to provide information on the state of educational facilities in Khmelnytsky and their usability as basic bomb shelters.
This was reported by the IMI representative in Khmelnytsky oblast.
The claim was submitted to the Khmelnytsky District Administrative Court, which opened proceedings in the administrative case on May 9 and is now to consider it as per simplified litigation rules, without notifying the parties to the case.
ZHAR.INFO journalist Alyona Bereza sent a request to the Khmelnytsky City Council on April 19, asking for inspection reports for all (buildings) of the secondary educational institutions (secondary comprehensive schools, educational complexes, preschool comprehensive educational institutions, specialized schools, gymnasiums, lyceums, collegiums) in Khmelnytsky in order to find whether they can be used by citizens as basic bomb shelters. On April 27, the journalist's request was declined by the executive committee of the City Council.
In their response, the executive committee noted that "the possible harm from such infromation being accessed, published and distributed outweighs the right of the person requesting this information to know it."
"The requested information concerns the work of educational institutions under martial law, therefore it is classified information which can only be accessed in the interests of public order and for the prevention of threats to the life and safety of those who participate in the education process, to protect the citizens' health, the right of educational process participants to a safe educational environment, to prevent the disclosure of information which may potentially harm a person or the society," the executive committee said in their response.
Disagreeing with the position of the executive committee, the editors decided to contest it and appealed to the court. Legal support to the editorial team is being provided by the non-governmental organization "Human Rights Platform".
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