5 facts about freedom of speech in Transcarpathia

In June, experts from the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) visited Uzhgorod, where they talked to local journalists, trained the police and met with the head of the Regional State Administration Hennadiy Moskal. The main complaint from journalists is dependence of the editorial policy on media owners. Overall, Transcarpathia is a good place for the media, but there is a but.

1. No violations of journalists’ rights and freedom of speech have been recorded by the IMI this year.

In 2015, the IMI recorded in Transcarpathia 7 violations of freedom of speech. Compared with other regions of Ukraine it is not a lot, for example in neighboring Lviv region 9 cases were recorded, in Ivano-Frankivsk region – 5, in Chernivtsi region – 16.

This year, as of June 1, no violations have been recorded so far. Note that the IMI records only those cases which have become known publicly.

2. The City Council of Uzhgorod is superopen.

Journalists do not need any accreditation to work in Uzhgorod city council. According to the regulations of the City Council, meetings may be attended by anyone if, of course, they do not interfere with the work of the deputies and other employees.

Regarding the Transcarpathian Regional Council, the Regulations state that the meetings can be attended by all journalists with appropriate certificates, and accreditation may be cancelled for breach of information laws or the Regulations of the Council. Other people can also be present subject to pre-registration with the executive committee.

3. The City Council of Mukachevo is superclosed.

Mukachevo is only 40 kilometers from Uzhgorod and is not much less than the regional center (the population of 86,000 against 115,000 in Uzhgorod).

But the rules of accreditation in Mukachevo City Council are perhaps the most complicated of all that the IMI had seen. One must submit a bunch of documents, and besides, there are many restrictions. 

It should be noted that accreditation is not an authorization mechanism, its purpose is facilitating the work of journalists. Part 1 of Art. 26 of the Law of Ukraine "On Information" states: "The absence of accreditation can not be grounds for refusal to admit a journalist, a media worker to public events, conducted by an authority."

4. 46 complaints of refusal to provide access to information have been made in Transcarpathia since the beginning of the year.

During 2015, the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Human Rights received 55 complaints from Transcarpathian region about violations of the right to access to public information. As a result, 12 reports on administrative violations were drawn up.

Since the beginning of 2016, 46 complaints have been received, not a single report has been drawn up (as of June 9, 2016).

That is, for five months of this year, there have been almost as many complaints as for the whole 2015. The trend is disappointing.

5. Since the beginning of the year to date, pre-trial investigations are ongoing in two criminal proceedings for obstruction of journalistic activities in Transcarpathia.

In 2015, the prosecutor’s office opened three criminal cases under Art. 171 of the Criminal Code – obstruction of journalistic activities. Notifications of suspicion were served in two cases, and an indictment was forwarded to the court in one case. One criminal proceeding was opened and one person was brought to justice for hooliganism against a journalist. Also last year, in Transcarpathia, two criminal proceedings were opened under other articles in which journalists are victims, and both were closed.

Since the beginning of 2016, three offenses under Article 171 have been registered, one case is already closed, and in the other two, investigations are currently underway (as of June 1, 2016).

Text: Irina Chulivska, IMI

Source: Institute of Mass Information