Police to investigate SIAUP’s refusal to admit journalist to hearing as obstruction of reporting

The police have opened a probe into potential obstruction of legal reporting by ZHAR.INFO’s Alyona Bereza after she was from attending the a hearing at the State Inspectorate for Architecture and Urban Planning (SIAUP) in Khmelnytskyi, as per a response by the Khmelnytskyi District Police Department to ZHAR.INFO, which the media outlet shared with the Institute of Mass Information.

The document says that a Khmelnytskyi District Police Department investigator had entered data on the incident into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations on 9 May 2026, classifying it as a potential crime under Part 1 of Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obstruction of legal reporting).

The data was entered into the register after the Khmelnytskyi City and District Court ordered the police to open proceedings based on the journalist’s statement.

On 20 April 2026, the Khmelnytskyi City and District Court granted the claim by of the NGO Women’s Anti-Corruption Movement (basis for ZHAR.INFO’s operations) and ordered the Khmelnytskyi District Police to add the data from the statement filed on 18 March 2026 into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations.

According to the court files, Alyona Bereza contacted the police with a statement on obstruction of reporting after being barred from attending a hearing in a case tried by the SIAUP in Khmelnytskyi. The statement was filed in the log journal, but proceedings were not opened.

The police claimed that their inspection findings was “insufficient” to confirm whether a criminal offense had occurred. However, the court stressed that in accordance with Article 214 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the investigator or prosecutor has to enter such data into the URPTI within 24 hours after a statement is filed.

ZHAR.INFO’s Alyona Bereza was barred from attending the a hearing at the State Inspectorate for Architecture and Urban Planning (SIAUP) in Khmelnytskyi on 18 March 2026.

IMI lawyer Volodymyr Zelenchuk has said that the trial procedure for urban planning-related cases does not bar journalists or any other persons from attending the hearings, thus the situation may constitute obstruction of legal reporting.