32 cases of violations of journalists' rights closed in Mykolaiv region

Police in Mykolaiv region have closed 32 criminal cases based on «journalistic» articles, illustrative photo by Ukrinform

In recent years, Mykolaiv law enforcement officers have closed 32 criminal cases related to violations of journalists' rights, including obstruction and threats.

This is stated in an article by Kateryna Sereda, a representative of the Institute of Mass Information in Mykolaiv region.

At the same time, from 24 February 2022 to June 2025, Mykolaiv law enforcement officers registered four criminal proceedings under journalistic articles: obstruction of the legitimate professional activities of journalists and threats or violence against a journalist. According to the information provided by the main department of the National Police in Mykolaiv region in response to a request, one of the proceedings, which concerned access to the Mykolaiv City Council building, has been closed, while the others are under pre-trial investigation.

During the period of the full-scale invasion, law enforcement officers opened four cases of violation of journalists' rights, and one has already been closed. Screenshot: response to the request

Prior to the full-scale invasion, the situation with the effectiveness of investigations also left much to be desired: out of 33 proceedings under Article 171 (obstruction of the legitimate professional activities of journalists), only five went to court, while the rest were closed. Of the seven proceedings under Article 345-1 (threats or violence against journalists), only four went to court.

No criminal proceedings under Articles 347-1, 348-1 and 349-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine were registered during both periods.

As a reminder, in May 2024, journalists from NikVesti tried to get to the city council after a staff meeting to get comments from officials. However, they were not allowed in, explaining this by the new rules of the access regime. According to them, media representatives can visit the building only with one-time electronic passes issued through the organisational department of the city council and only when accompanied by employees of the information support department.

On 26 July 2024, following the publication of the Institute of Mass Information, the police opened a criminal investigation into possible obstruction of the professional activities of journalists. However, during the investigation, law enforcement officers did not find any elements of a crime.