Fisherman convicted in Odesa region for threatening journalist

The Chornomorsk City Court of Odesa Region found the citizen guilty of threatening violence against the journalist and sentenced him to probation for two years.

As stated in the court's verdict, the convict was also ordered to pay the journalist moral damages in the amount of UAH 10 thousand, <span>legal aid costs in the </span>amount of <span>UAH 50 thousand, and </span>the costs of engaging an expert to conduct forensic examinations in the amount of UAH 29.7 thousand in favor of the state.

The case concerns the obstruction of the work of a journalist of the publication "Alternativa.org", who in October 2024 went to check information about illegal fishing. On the shore of the estuary, the journalist came across a makeshift fisherman's hut, went in, said he was a journalist, and started to eat. One of the fishermen did not like this and began to threaten the journalist with physical violence. In particular, the fisherman threatened the journalist that he would report him to the local authorities. The journalist took the threat seriously because the person with the name the fisherman mentioned was linked to a number of beatings of citizens.

The accused did not admit guilt, saying that the fishermen worked legally, but the journalist came and called them poachers. He does not consider those statements to be threats. The head of the fishing cooperative said that the company had been using the land plot since 2015. In his opinion, the journalist actually entered the territory illegally. According to the entrepreneur, the journalist filed a statement of threats only when his accusations of illegal activities by the fishermen were not confirmed.

The judges noted that it was easy to recognize the victim as a journalist because he was wearing a vest with a corresponding inscription. However, the judges also recognized the fact that the journalist had called the fishermen poachers as questionable actions from the point of view of journalistic ethics, and also noted that despite the fact that the territory to which the journalist had entered was not fenced, the hut that the journalist entered was the property of a person whose inviolability is protected by law and the absence of a fence did not give him the right to enter without permission.

However, all these remarks about the journalist still did not give the convict the right to commit a crime against the press worker.

Кирило Бойко