Poltava journalist files a complaint against prosecutors for inaction in investigating death threats she received
Anastasia Matsko, a journalist for the media outlet "Poltavska Khvylia", who was threatened by two officials at a Poltava City Council session, filed a complaint with the General Prosecutor's Office and the regional prosecutor's office due to the inaction of the pre-trial investigation body (the Poltava district prosecutor's office) and the investigator.
The journalist reported this to the IMI's regional representative.
In the complaint, the journalist and her lawyer demand that the pre-trial investigation in the case be entrusted to a higher-level investigative unit, i.e. the Investigative Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Poltava Region, "due to the ineffectiveness of the pre-trial investigation". At the same time, Matsko demands ensuring that the investigation is complete "within a reasonable timeframe" and protection from possible attempts on her life and wellbeing, as well as that the pre-trial investigation body achieve the goals and objectives of the proceedings.
"A pre-trial investigation has been underway for seven months under the following circumstances: the pre-trial investigation body knows the persons who committed the offense, the victim is pointing to the offenders, and the witnesses saw the unlawful actions against a journalist. However, despite the presented facts and evidence, the pre-trial investigation body does not make quick procedural decisions and does not conduct an effective pre-trial investigation. The victim considers the delay in making the necessary procedural decisions as deliberate actions on the part of the pre-trial investigation body aimed at helping the perpetrators avoid accountability and the investigator and the prosecutor being reluctant to perform their duties," the complaint states.
The journalist believes the ineffectiveness of the pre-trial investigation is obvious.
As reported, Anastasia Matsko, a journalist at the online publication "Poltava Wave", has said that district council deputy, Serhiy Boyko, and the head of the welfare inspection, Maksym Malko, threatened her during the March 29 City Council session. The police opened a case for Part 2 of Article 171 ("Obstructing the legal professional work of journalists, influencing a journalist in any way with the purpose of preventing them from fulfilling their professional duties, or persecuting a journalist in connection with their legal professional work") of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Later, the journalist's lawyer, Dmytro Semekha, requested that the Poltava police reclassify the case as threats instead of obstruction. On May 29, Matsko and her lawyer filed a complaint with the Prosecutor General's Office due to the police's inaction. Two forensic examinations confirmed that the journalist received death threats, but the work of the prosecutors' remained insufficient, in her opinion.
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