The Verkhovna Rada has supported decree No. 2541 “On the Recommendations of the Parliamentary Hearings on the topic: “Safety of the activities of journalists in Ukraine: state, problems and ways to solve them.”
Some 320 deputies voted for such a decision at a parliament meeting on Jan. 16 evening, an Interfax-Ukraine agency correspondent reported.
The text of the resolution indicates that the Verkhovna Rada endorses the recommendations prepared at the parliamentary hearings on the safety of journalistic activities in Ukraine.
The final document of recommendations calls for intensifying the efforts of the authorized bodies to investigate the murders of journalists Georgiy Gongadze, Pavel Sheremet, Vadym Komarov, Vyacheslav Veremiy, Oles Buzina and the release of captured journalists, in particular, Stanislav Aseyev and Oleh Galaziuk, ending the persecution by the occupying authorities of Crimea of Mykola Semena and Crimean Tatar public activists.
According to the text of recommendations, the Verkhovna Rada should stipulate in the law that the commission of criminal offenses in connection with the obstruction of the exercise of the right to freedom of expression should be an aggravating circumstance. The parliament is also recommended to increase the statute of limitations on claims for liability for offenses against freedom of speech, to exclude from the criminal offenses and transfer to the category of administrative offenses the refusal to provide public information at the request of journalists.
The Prosecutor General’s Office and the Interior Ministry, the State Bureau of Investigations are recommended to identify in their leadership those who are responsible for overseeing the investigation of crimes committed against journalists. The National Police of Ukraine are recommended to effectively investigate the resonant killings of journalists Georgiy Gongadze, Pavel Sheremet, Vadym Komarov, Vyacheslav Veremiy and Oles Buzina.
The heads of the said law enforcement agencies should submit the state of investigations on obstruction of work to journalists at hearings in the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech in May 2020.
The Cabinet of Ministers, according to the resolution, was recommended to simplify the procedure for access of foreign journalists, human rights defenders and lawyers to Crimea by amending the procedure for entering and leaving the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, as well as inform the Verkhovna Rada of the implementation of the conclusions of the parliamentary hearings before June 1, 2020.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine was recommended to facilitate the coverage of events in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) zone by journalists and to ensure the preservation of the personal data of journalists accredited to cover events in the combat zone.
