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IMI Publishes Barometer of Freedom of Speech for May 2021

June 2 – The Institute of Mass Information (IMI) published its monthly Barometer of Freedom of Speech for May 2021 on its website. In May, IMI experts recorded 15 violations of freedom of speech in Ukraine.

The highest number of violations (13) was recorded in the category of prevention of journalists from conducting their professional work, including:

  • Petro Poroshenko-owned media outlets (Priamyy TV channel and Channel 5) were not allowed to attend the joint press conference of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on May 6. Covid-19 pandemic restrictions were cited as the reason the journalists were excluded from covering the event;
  • On May 13, Viktor Medvedchuk’s bodyguards physically blocked journalists’ access to the hearings where the courts imposed house arrest on the pro-Kremlin politician. One bodyguard used a chokehold on Bukvy journalist Yan Dobronosov; and
  • On May 13, fellow Medvedchuk MP Illia Kyva physically blocked Hromadske.ua and Channel 24 journalists’ access to the same court hearings.

IMI experts found 15 violations in seven regions: seven occurred in Kyiv, three in Lviv region, and one in each of Odesa, Poltava, Kharkiv, Ternopil, and Zhytomyr regions.

In total, since the beginning of 2021, IMI has recorded 89 cases of violations of journalists’ professional rights.

More on the website of the Institute of Mass Information in Ukrainian.

Infographic by IMI