President’s guards block cortege from TVi journalists

On 16 January members of the State Security Department guarding the President prevented journalists from TVi from filming Yanukovych’s cortege as it left his residence at Mezhyhirya.

According to journalist Anastasia Stanko, the channel is preparing a feature on the President’s schedule. On Monday morning they were filming outside Mezhyhirya when guards came up to them, blocked the cameras with their car and then with their jackets to prevent them filming the cortege.  The same thing happened in the evening.

The guards cited a law which they say bans filming of the cortege. Ms Stanko has filed an information request asking for clarification as to which norms ban this.

The TVi journalists are planning to film the cortege throughout the week.  During a Telekritika chat conference, the head of the State Security Department Ihor Kalinin informed that the military servicemen in his Department can restrict people, filming, audiovisual recording on regime territory, this including the routes of persons being guarded (Item 20 of the Rules for Ensuring the Safety of Public Officials … from 29 June 2011, No. 46). He did not however name a separate norm in law.

At a seminar for members of the relevant Department and journalists in Summer 2011 it was stressed that abroad there are no legislative norms banning the filming of corteges of the country’s leaders.