Nikolov says the police released the five men who tried to break into his apartment

Investigative journalist Yuriy Nikolov reported that the police released the five men who had tried to break into his apartment on January 15. He wrote about this on Facebook and confirmed it to the IMI.

Nikolov learned that the attackers were released today, January 26, because visited the police office to file a statement as a victim in the case.

"I learned that the police released the 'five participants in illegal actions against the journalist' immediately upon identifying and searching them. No one was detained, because no one was issued a suspicion notice. They walk free. I have not been informed of any details regarding their correspondence or any evidence found on them. They promised to tell me when the pre-trial investigation is over. They did not say when it would end, either," he wrote.

The journalist added that the case is still filed under the same article. "The classification is the same, light one: Part 2 of Article 171, that is, without a mention of a crime organized by someone, as in Part 3. Life goes on," he wrote.

As the IMI reported, on January 15, investigative journalist Yuriy Nikolov reported an attempt at intimidation: unknown men tried to break into his apartment on January 14, scaring his mother and neighbors, and left paper notes saying "draft dodger" and "traitor" on his door. After the incident, the Telegram channel "Kartochny Ofis" posted about it, claiming that it was military servicemen trying to deliver a draft notice to the journalist. A provocative post about Yuri Nikolov was shared by the Telegram channels "Vertykal" and "Joker" at about the same time. On January 15, the Telegram channel 'Joker' posted the video of Nikolov's comment on President Volodymyr Zelensky and implied that the attack on the journalist's apartment was retaliation for his remark about the head of state.

On January 19, the police started a case over pressuring the investigative journalist Yury Nikolov to prevent him from performing his professional duties and persecuting the latter due to his reporting (Part 2 of Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).