Response of the General Prosecutor’s office to the IMI about the criminal attacks on journalists

The Institute of mass information received from the General Prosecutor’s office the response to the resolution of the Forum of journalists “Legal self-protection” concerning the impediment to the professional activities of journalists. The response reads that all facts mentioned in the resolution will be checked and the conclusions will be made. So, the General Prosecutor’s office checked the materials of the investigation of the criminal case on inflicting the body injuries to Mikhail Novik, the head of the fund “Reporter”, and came to the conclusion that there were no data, which evidenced about the impediment to professional activities of the journalist.

As to the intimidation of Vera Kitaygorodska, the editor of a Chernivtsy newspaper, by Ivan Muntian, the head of the oblast council, the General Prosecutor’s office answered that, after the second check of the facts, the decision was taken not to start the criminal case.

The pre-trial investigation of the attack on Rivne journalist Vitaliy Dovgich was also suspended because the criminals had not been found.

(«Ukrainske slovo», No. 34, 21-27 August 2003)