Police registers Zaporizhzhia journalist's statement as an address

The police registered the reporting obstruction statement filed by 061.ua journalist Elmira Shahabudtdynova, who was threatened by the locals while filming the aftermath of a Russian missile strike on the private sector of Zaporizhzhia, as an address by a citizen, the journalist reported to the Institute of Mass Information the representative in Zaporizhzhia oblast, Natalia Vyhovska.

"On October 15, the precinct officer called me asking when he could come to my house, because if the conflict was 'over', I needed to sign some documents. I said that the term 'conflict' was rather vague and asked him to tell me how was my statement doing. He replied that there had been no statement, but an address," Elmira said.

According to the journalist, on the day of the incident, she was filling out a form titled "statement", describing the situation and mentioning that the actions of the locals contained signs of a crime outlined in Article 171 of the Criminal Code.

"However, the police told me that a statement and an address were one and the same, and that the precinct officer could come to my house and show me all the documents if I wanted. I told them there was no need to visit me and I have already contacted a lawyer to decide how to proceed," she said.

According to Roman Holovenko, a media lawyer at the Institute of Mass Information, Part 1 of Article 214 of the Criminal Procedure Code requires law enforcement officers to open proceedings within 24 hours of a complaint being filed.

"It is not so important whether the form said 'address' or something else. When processing a document, one must prioritise its content, such as what the person submitting it is asking for. If there is a request to open a case, then the document is a statement about a crime, as per the Criminal Procedure Code. Addresses, of course, can be divided into complaints, statements, etc. under the Law of Ukraine "On Addresses by Citizens", but if the document describes the signs of a crime and there is a request to open a case, then this is a statement about a crime and it is regulated by special provisions, not general ones, that is, by the Criminal Procedure Code and not by the Law "On Addresses", explained Roman Holovenko.

Previously

As reported earlier, on September 29, the residents of a Zaporizhzhia private sector, which was targeted by Russian anti-aircraft missiles, interfered with the work of Elmira Shahabudtdynova as she was photographing the aftermath of the Russian strike. The people blocked her way, insulted her, threatened her, and demanded she delete the pictures she had already taken. They claimed that journalists only make things worse and that it is them who cause the shelling. The journalist called the police and filed a statement on obstruction to her reporting. 

On October 12 she was contacted by a district police officer from the Zaporizhzhia Police Department No. 3, who suggested she reconcile with the people who attacked her. The journalist was told that she needed to "live in harmony with others," "put herself in people's shoes," "process the emotions," and that she was not physically harmed after all. She was offered to sign a document to confirm the conflict was over.