You're reading: Largest number of freedom of speech violations, beatings registered in July since beginning of 2017

In July 2017, the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) has recorded 28 cases of violations of freedom of speech and journalists’ rights in Ukraine. This is the largest number of violations recorded since the beginning of the year, the press service of the IMI quoted its monthly monitoring report dubbed ‘Freedom of Press Barometer’.

In July, the highest number of beatings of journalists occurred since the beginning of the year. Six such cases were recorded.

According to the report, in January a total of 15 cases of violations of freedom of speech in Ukraine were registered, in February – 21, in March – 16, in April – 26, in May – 24, in June – 20.

The number of beatings of journalists in July increased compared to the previous months. Three beatings occurred in June, three in May, one in April, one in March, one in February, and none in January. The attacks and beatings occurred in Dnipro, Donetsk, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Mykolaiv and Cherkasy, the Institute reported.

The IMI recorded violations of the freedom of speech and the rights of journalists in July in 15 regions of Ukraine. Kyiv, Mykolaiv and Volyn regions led in terms of the number of such violations, four such cases were recorded in each of these regions.

The right of journalists to the profession was violated in July by individuals, law enforcement officers, local and central authorities, hackers, representatives of the judicial branch of government and municipal enterprises, according to the IMI report.

The number of obstacles has slightly decreased compared with June (ten in June, nine in May, eight in April, three in March, seven in February, five in January). At the same time, this kind of obstacles has lead among other categories of violations of freedom of speech since the beginning of the year.

Of the six cases of obstruction, three occurred in Mykolaiv, where the authorities pushed journalists out, banned them from their offices, resented the presence of the media in a session hall.

In addition, in July, the IMI recorded five cases of threats, four cases of Internet pressure, two cases of restricting access to public information and political pressure. Also one case of damage to property of journalists and one lawsuit against the media and journalists were registered.

The property was damaged in a burning car of a Kharkiv journalist, the editor of the Insider.info news portal, a correspondent of the Crimean News agency, Ihor Rusyn. The journalist himself is convinced that the car was set on fire.

According to the IMI, cases of Internet pressure are associated with DDoS attacks on the website LB.ua, pressure on the website of the city of Zaporizhia 061.ua and on the Hlukhiv newspaper ‘Week’, as well as attacks by a large number of calls from unknown mobile phone numbers to the chief editor of LB.ua Sonia Koshkina on her birthday, July 8. LB.ua believes the hacking attacks on the website and on Koshkina’s cell phone are connected with the portal’s fight against the construction on the territory of the Senny market in Kyiv.