Seven cases on journalists' rights violations submitted to court in 2023 – PGOU

The police registered 77 cases over crimes committed against mass media representatives in 2023. Seven of those cases were investigated and brought to court with indictments (in 2022, four cases were submitted to court).

This is stated in the reply sent by Prosecutor General's Office on January 11, 2024 to the IMI's request about the 2023 situation with investigations into crimes against journalists.

"In 2023, the amount of cases investigated by the police increased compared to 2022, when only four cases were brought to court. Still, this is 74% less than the pre-invasion number of investigated 'journalist' cases. Let me remind you that in 2021, the police submitted 27 cases related to violations of journalists' rights to the court," said Kateryna Dyachuk, head of the IMI freedom of speech monitoring department.

Out of the total number of proceedings, 53 were registered under Art. 171 ("Preclusion of the legal professional activity of journalists") of the Criminal Code of Ukraine; 29 of them were closed, four were brought to court under this article, and in one case the pre-trial investigation was stopped.

22 criminal proceedings were registered under Article 345-1 ("Death threats or violent threats to a journalist") of the CCU, eight of them were closed, and three were submitted to court.

Moreover, the police registered two criminal proceedings under Article 347-1 ("Willful destruction or damage to a journalist's property"), one of which was closed.

Of the seven proceedings submitted to court, four are under Article 171 and three under Article 345-1 of the Criminal Code.

As the IMI reported, throughout 2022, law enforcement agencies registered 88 cases of crimes committed against mass media representatives. Four of them were submitted to court. Compared to 2021, when 27 the number of such cases reached 27, he number of cases investigated dropped by 85%.

In 2021, the number of investigations into violations of journalists' rights increased by 69% compared to 2020. Namely, in 2021, the police investigated and submitted to court 27 cases under the "journalist articles" of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

In 2019, 259 cases over crimes against journalists were opened and 14 of them were submitted to court.

In 2018, there were 287 proceedings regarding crimes against journalists. Of these, 22 cases were submitted to court.

In 2017, 290 cases over crimes against journalists were registered. Of them, 23 proceedings were submitted to court.

In 2016, 31 indictments regarding crimes against mass media workers were submitted to court, including those from the previous years.