Over 600 police officers attended a special seminar on improving the investigation of crimes against media representatives drawing on EU and Council of Europe standards.
The seminar was organized at the National Academy of Internal Affairs in Kyiv by the National Police Investigation Department (NPID) in partnership with the National Academy of Internal Affairs (NAIA), the Investigation Department, and the NGO Institute of Mass Information on 17 October.
The seminar was also attended by Serhiy Fomin, a Supreme Court judge at the Criminal Court of Cassation; Serhiy Chernyavskyi, Doctor of Law and NAIA vice-rector; and police colonel Serhiy Storozhuk, chief of forensic investigations at the NPID pre-trial investigation office. The seminar was moderated by Oleksiy Tsvetkov, deputy chief of the NPID.
The lecturers included:
- Institute of Mass Information director Oksana Romaniuk;
- IMI media lawyer Volodymyr Zelenchuk;
- attorney, Human Rights Defense Platform lawyer Lyudmyla Opryshko;
as well as prominent academics and NAIA professors such as:
- Serhiy Khaliuk, head of the NAIA department of constitutional law and human rights, Doctor of Law;
- Valentyna Lukyavets-Shakhova, NAIA rector’s advisor on gender, Candidate of Law;
- Olha Kryshevych, NAIA criminal justice professor, Doctor of Law;
- Viktoria Bass, NAIA law enforcement professor, Candidate of Law;
- Viktoria Babanina, prominent scholar at the NAIA law enforcement issues laboratory, Doctor of Law;
Institute of Mass Information director Oksana Romaniuk said, “Effective investigation of crimes against journalists is a key indicator of public trust in the law enforcement system. It is important that each such case is investigated promptly, competently, and with adherence to the standards of the European Court of Human Rights. We are grateful to the National Police for their willingness to cooperate systematically and to build capabilities in this area.”
Volodymyr Zelenchuk, a media lawyer at the Institute of Mass Information, discussed international standards for the protection of journalists and recommendations regarding the investigation of crimes against media workers issued by the European Union and the Council of Europe.
“In cases where the law sets no specific requirements for the investigator working on the case, the gap should be filled by international standards. Investigators and inquirers should in any case take into account that protecting a journalist from unlawful actions essentially means protecting freedom of speech from censorship and pressure,” Volodymyr Zelenchuk said.
The seminar focused on the need to ensure prompt and thorough investigation of violations of the rights of media representatives in Ukraine, as well as the importance of effective communication between law enforcement bodies and the media community.
The seminar was another step in Ukraine’s implementation of the obligations set out in the European Union’s negotiating framework, approved by the EU Council’s 21 June 2024 decision under Cluster 1 “Fundamentals of the EU accession process”, as well as in the implementation of the Roadmap on the Rule of Law, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 475-R on 14 May 2025.