Kharkiv Regional Administration abolishes system of journalist accreditation

The Head of the Kharkiv Regional Administration Arcen Avakov has instructed the department in charge of liaising with the press and with the public to no longer demand journalist accreditation within the Administration.

It was announced at a press conference, that from now on all journalists and media technicians would be able to get into the Administration premises and to all events by simply showing their media identification cards.

Mr Avakov explained that these measures were aimed at safeguarding the legitimate rights of journalists and the public to free, unimpeded and timely information about the activities of the state authorities and ensuring their transparency.

“In a democratic state legislation and moral norms require that journalists be able to have all information except that constituting a state secret”.

“This means”, Mr Avakov stressed, “that there will be no restrictions for members of the media in working with the Regional Administration.”

According to the press services figures, there are presently around 220 members of the media with accreditation for the Kharkiv Regional Administration