Attack on "Schemes" journalists in Kyiv region: court closed case due to expiration of statute of limitations, 5 years was not enough to consider it
On 3 April, the Brovary City District Court of Kyiv Region closed the case in the criminal proceedings over the attack on the crew of the Radio Liberty project "Schemes" that took place in the spring of 2019 in the village council of Chabaniv in Kyiv region. The case was closed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. For 5 years, law enforcement and the judiciary have failed to prove the guilt and punish the specific people whose attack on journalists in a government building was recorded on video.
This was reported by journalist Natalia Sedletska on Facebook, Censor.NET reports.
"Today, the Brovary court closed the case of the attack on the "Schemes" crew in Chabany - our cameraman Bruce Tr was beaten and his camera was broken.
No one was punished.
The reason for closing the case was the statute of limitations.
For example, it took the entire police-prosecutor-court system 5 years to prove the guilt and punish the specific identified people whose attack on journalists in the building of a state institution was recorded on video.
At the time, we were filming a story about how the land of the Academy of Agrarian Sciences was being transferred to the private ownership of relatives of the Academy's leadership," she said.
On 3 April, the Brovary City District Court of Kyiv region closed the case in the criminal proceedings over the attack on the crew of the Radio Liberty project Schemes, which took place in spring 2019 in the Chabaniv village council in Kyiv Oblast during the preparation of a journalistic investigation into the allocation of state land managed by the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine to private hands. The court made this decision in connection with the "expiration of the term of criminal prosecution", as requested by the accused, who attacked the film crew, Radio Svoboda reports.
At the meeting on April 3, the victim "Schemes" cameraman Borys Trotsenko was to be interrogated, but the accused Valerii Prysiazhniy - the attacker of the film crew, the former head of the public organization "Development of Kyiv Region" - filed a motion to close the criminal proceedings "in connection with the expiration of the term of arrest to responsibility".
Judge Vadym Chervonopysky granted the defendant's motion.
Oksana Maksymeniuk, a lawyer at Skhemy and head of the legal department at the Institute for Regional Press Development, explains that in March this year, it was indeed 5 years since the attack on the journalists and the opening of criminal proceedings, but she believes that this court decision was made possible by the delay in the case.
"The failure to bring the accused to justice was due to the delay in the pre-trial investigation and the trial in court. First, in 2020, the police unlawfully closed the proceedings. Then we filed a complaint again and in 2021 opened proceedings on other grounds (under the article "threats or violence against journalists in connection with the exercise of their legitimate professional activities"). This was followed by a full-scale invasion and replacement of the presiding judge in the case. The bottom line is that time was lost," the lawyer said.
Maksymeniuk added: "After receiving the full text of the court's decision, we will further study all the documents of the case and consider taking other legal measures to restore justice."
The press service of the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor's Office reported that "Prosecutors initially succeeded in resuming the investigation, notifying the person of suspicion of intentional battery on a journalist in connection with his professional activities and sending the indictment to court. Subsequently, the judge was replaced and numerous motions were filed by the accused. It took time to consider them. At the hearing on 3 April, the defendant again filed a motion to close the criminal proceedings, which allowed him to be released from criminal liability. We would like to note that the prosecutors in the case took all measures to consider the case within a reasonable time."
On March 6, 2019, during filming in the village of Chabany in the Kyiv region, the crew of the "Schemes" program, consisting of journalist Kateryna Kaplyuk and cameraman Borys Trotsenko, was attacked. The incident took place on the premises of the Chabaniv settlement council. The men injured the operator and broke the video camera. After an examination at the hospital, doctors diagnosed Boris Trotsenko with a concussion.
At that time, two deputies of Chabaniv village head Oleksandr Kyryzliev were among those who obstructed the shooting. Journalists recognized two officials at that time: Volodymyr Chupryna – deputy village head for the work of housing and communal services and Yury Bondary – deputy village head for the work of executive bodies.
The filming was also obstructed by representatives of the public organization 'Development of Kyiv Region', one of the founders of which is the former head of the Chabanivka village council, Oleksandr Kyryzliiev. In particular, according to the film crew, the attackers included the then-head of this PO, Valerii Prysyazhnyi. He later received the status of a defendant in the case. In court, Prysyazhnyi stated that he pleaded not guilty, although he was the one who was recorded on camera at the time of the attack.
