"Kremenchutsky Telegraf" reports insults from the Mayor, contact the police

The team of "Kremenchutsky Telegraf" (Poltava oblast) says that the Kremenchuk Mayor Vitaliy Maletsky was insulting journalists and that they have filed a statement with the police, considering it as threats.

The "Kremenchutsky Telegraf" chief editor Lesya Lazorenko reported this on Facebook.

In early August, "Kremenchutsky Telegraf" released an article about a group of entrepreneurs that supplies the city authorities with power generators and buys up communal property. It was after that article, says Lesya Lazorenko, that the Mayor resorted to statements that the editors consider threats to journalists.

"Kremenchutsky Telegraf" chief editor Lesya Lazorenko, photo by Lesya Lazorenko on Facebook

"At the next session after the article about the generator procurement was posted to the 'Kremenchutsky Telegraf' website, Vitaliy Maletsky once again resorted to discussing, condemning and threatening journalists, saying that 'in the Kryvushi community (where the Mayor lives) such publications can get your fingers beaten with a lead pipe,'" the journalist writes.

Lesya Lazorenko reported that the media outlet has contacted the police with a statement on violent threats.

In a comment to the Poltava representative of the Institute of Mass Information, Lesya Lazorenko said that she did not want to "forgive the Mayor any shameful attempt to belittle the role of independent mass media in the development of a democratic society."

"With the way our law enforcers and courts handle cases, we do not expect a quick result. Or any result. But every time the Mayor resorts to insults or threats, we will respond according to the current law. He should take responsibility for his words," wrote Lesya Lazorenko.

Lazorenko also said that on August 20, at an executive committee meeting, Vitaliy Maletsky threw an unpleasant statement at the "Kremenchutska Hazera" journalist Olena Semenova: "Haven't you worked at an information kiosk at the market?" That newspaper also filed a police report.

The IMI representative tried to get a comment from the Kremenchuk City Council press office regarding Lazorenko's statement, but was advised to submit a written query to the Council's executive committee, which the press office promised to answer.

The representative of the Kremenchuk police press office, Anna Vasenko, said in a comment to the IMI that they had received a statement from "Kremenchutsky Telegraf" today, August 29.

"The statement has been registered, it is currently being reviewed by the chief investigator. A procedural decision regarding the statement will be made within a day," commented Anna Vasenko.