IMI lawyer on refusal of the Mykolaiv Regional Council to allow journalists access to the session: They only had to inform about the risks

The Mykolaiv Regional Council had no right to deny journalists access to the meeting of the Regional Council, but should only warn about existing security risks.

This was stated by Roman Golovenko, a lawyer at the Institute of Mass Information, as reported on the IMI website.

It was previously reported that the Mykolaiv Regional Council, contrary to the regulations, refused NikVesti to attend the session scheduled remotely for Thursday, December 14.

Roman Holovenko noted that the regulations of the regional council really guarantee journalists the right to be present in the hall live at a remote meeting.

The current regulations of the Mykolaiv Regional Council, namely Article 74 of the Regulations, stipulates that during the plenary meeting of the regional council in remote mode, only the chairman of the regional council, his deputy, the chairman of the regional council, employees of the council's apparatus, as well as representatives of mass media. Other deputies participate in the meeting in the form of a video conference.

However, the regional council, which is currently headed by Anton Tabunshchyk, believes that participation is possible only remotely, as they do not have the opportunity to «organize the safe presence of media representatives».

«The work of journalists in some cases involves risks, a number of journalists work even on the front lines. Therefore, the task of the council leadership in this situation was not to limit the physical presence of journalists, but only to inform them in advance about the existing risks. This could be done under signature. Also, for the future, it is possible to change the rule of the regulation, which in relation to a remote meeting speaks of the right to be present in the hall where the meeting is held, even though it is held remotely. The wording can simply be tied to the premises in which the head and staff of the council are located, then it can be any premises that corresponds to the situation,» the lawyer said.

Before that, on December 11, the official website of the Mykolaiv Regional Council published the draft decisions of the next meeting of the Regional Council, and also informed that the head of the Regional Council had convened it. But the order itself was not published. Kateryna Sereda, the representative of IMI in the Mykolaiv region, drew attention to this on her Facebook page.

The next day, after the media woman's remark, the regional council website still published an order and announced the date and format of the session, at which they plan to consider personnel issues in remote mode, also violating their own regulations.

Previously, the head of the permanent deputy commission of the Mykolaiv Regional Council on the protection of human rights and freedoms, legality and law and order, Denys Andrieiev, admitted that the presentation and consideration of personnel issues at the online session of the regional council violates the current regulations of the council.

In June 2023, another session of the regional council took place in Mykolaiv in an online format. The meeting was not announced, but it became known about its holding from a short post on the official website. At the session, the deputies voted to increase his bonus and allowance.

It will be recalled that Anton Tabunshchyk, the first deputy chairman of the Mykolaiv Regional Council, representative of the «Servant of the People» party, who actually headed the Regional Council in March due to the resignation of its former head Anna Zamazieieva, promised to work openly and transparently.