85 cases over crimes against journalists opened in 2024, only 6 submitted to court – PGU Office

Illustration by the IMI

The police registered 85 proceedings for crimes committed against media representatives in 2024. However, only six of these cases were investigated and submitted to court with indictments (compared to 7 proceedings having been passed to court in 2023 and four in 2022).

This is stated in the reply by Prosecutor General's Office on May 9, 2025 to the IMI's query regarding the situation with investigations into crimes against journalists in 2024.

The data provided by the Prosecutor General's Office relates to the period from January 1 to December 31, 2024.

Of the total number of proceedings, 59 were filed under Article 171 (“Obstruction of legal reporting”) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Of these, 33 were closed, three proceedings were submitted to court, and in 23 proceedings, a decision has not been made.

Another 24 proceedings were registered under Article 345-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (“Threats or violence against a journalist”). Five of those have been closed, three have been submitted to court, and in 16 proceedings a decision is pending.

Furthermore, the police registered one case under Article 347-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (“Willful destruction or damage to a journalist’s property”), in which the decision was cancelled.

One more case was opened under Article 348-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (“Encroachment on the life of a journalist”), in which no decision has been made yet.

Proceedings statistics for the previous years

According to the IMI, the police registered 77 cases over crimes committed against mass media representatives in 2023. Seven of those cases were investigated and brought to court with indictments.

Throughout 2022, law enforcement agencies registered 88 cases of crimes committed against mass media representatives. Four of them were submitted to court. Compared to 2021, when 27 the number of such cases reached 27, he number of cases investigated dropped by 85%.

In 2021, the number of investigations into violations of journalists' rights increased by 69% compared to 2020. Namely, in 2021, the police investigated and submitted to court 27 cases under the "journalist articles" of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

In 2019, 259 cases over crimes against journalists were opened and 14 of them were submitted to court.

In 2018, there were 287 proceedings regarding crimes against journalists. Of these, 22 cases were submitted to court.

In 2017, 290 cases over crimes against journalists were registered. Of them, 23 proceedings were submitted to court.

In 2016, 31 indictments regarding crimes against mass media workers were submitted to court, including those from the previous years.