MENU
Documenting
war crimes in Ukraine

The Tribunal for Putin (T4P) global initiative was set up in response to the all-out war launched by Russia against Ukraine in February 2022.

«Miski visti» turned to court

09.07.2004   
Aleksey Svetikov, Severodonetsk

Editor of the newspaper «Miski visti» Irina Chernobay handed the complaint to the Kremenna district court against the actions of the Kremenna district state administration, which refused to give accreditation to a journalist of this edition.

The complaint reads:

«On 6 February 2004 I, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper «Miski visti» (No. 5), directed to the Kremenna district state administration the application about the accreditation in the district administration of Tatyana Golubitskaya, a journalist of our newspaper.

On 20 February 2004 I received response of the district state administration No. 08-94, signed by head of the stuff L. Kolesnichenko, with the refusal to accredit the newspaper.

The reasons of the refusals were not explained in the response.

I regard these actions as illegal and violating my personal and professional rights on the basis of the following arguments.

According to Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine «On the order of elucidation by mass media of the activities of organs of state power and organs of local self-government in Ukraine», accreditation of journalists and technical personnel of mass media in the organs of state power and organs of local self-government is realized by registration on the basis of the official presentation of the mass media to the corresponding organ of state power or organ of local self-government, or by the application of journalists, or technical personnel supplemented with the documents confirming their professional belonging, or after the recommendation of a professional association of journalists.

Thus, accreditation is an informative, but not resolving, procedure, and the refusal to render the accreditation is illegal.

The arbitrary actions of Kremenna district state administration violated my right for information stipulated by part 2 of Article 34 of the Constitution of Ukraine and Article 29 of the Law of Ukraine «On information». Moreover, my professional rights of an editor of a mass medium, stated by Articles 23 and 26 of the Law of Ukraine «On printed mass media», were abused, since the obstacles were created to my work connected with the elucidation of the activities of local power organ».

The editor asks the court to recognize, on the basis of section 31-A of the Civil-Procedural Code of Ukraine, the actions of the Kremenna district state administration, which refused to accredit a journalist of the newspaper «Miski visti», as illegal and violating private and professional rights. Besides, the editor asks the court to oblige the Kremenna district administration to give the accreditation to the journalist of the newspaper «Miski visti».

The interests of the editor will be represented in court by a lawyer of the Lugansk oblast branch of the Voters’ Committee of Ukraine.

 Share this