Photo reporters to hold rally under Interior Ministry in protest at attack against Bukvy reporter
On Tuesday, August 17, at 11 a.m., a silent protest rally of photojournalists will be held near the Ministry of Internal Affairs (10 Akademika Bogomolets Street, Kyiv), demanding security for journalists and punishment for assailants of media workers, as this is reported on Facebook page of the rally.
The protest is caused by the attack on the photo correspondent of Bukvy Oleksander Kuzhelny, occured on August 14 in the center of Kyiv immediately after the action near the President's Office.
The organizers remind that according to the Institute of Mass Information, since 7 months of 2021, almost 90 cases of physical aggression against journalists have been recorded in Ukraine, more than 10 cases of beatings cases.
"And, as we know from practice, law enforcement bodies do not like to initiate criminal proceedings under journalistic articles - 171 or 345-1 of the Criminal Code. Even fewer of these cases get to the courts. And condemning attackers to real punishments is rather an exception to the rule. The stories of our colleagues Serhiy Nuzhnenko, Vladyslav Krasinsky, Dmytro Replyanchuk, Bihus.Info journalists, colleagues from the "Scheme" project and dozens of others across the country only prove this: "threats, destruction of property, beating of journalists are almost never criminally liable," the announcement of the rally reads.
Reporters demanded that the attacks on journalists to be investigated as efficiently and objectively as possible.
"We demand that the courts stop making simulacrum of justice. We demand a real punishment for those who prevent journalists from working. We are convinced that until there are no sentences for the attackers, the journalism and the journalists are at serious risk. After all, impunity only engenders impunity, ”the organizers of the action summed up.
As IMI reported, On Saturday, August 14, in the center of Kyiv, some unknown persons severely beat Oleksander Kuzhelny, a photo correspondent for the Bukvy newspaper, as Bukvy reported, as well as this was confirmed by his colleagues.
This happened after a protest outside the President's Office, which Oleksander Kuzhelny was covering.
During the rally, as Oleksander Kuzhelny said, an unknown man wearing balaclava approached him, asked what he was doing there, an speaking aggressively told him to leave. When the correspondent decided to leave the place, a group of people caught up with him and demanded to delete the photos he had taken. Then they attacked the reporter.
Kyiv police investigators served the suspicion notes to two people who beat Oleksander Kuzhelny, other involved in are wanted.
Earlier, on July 21, some persons from right-wing organizations assaulted the journalist for Bukvy online edition Oleksander Kuzhelny.
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