THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
The team of Chernihiv TV channel Dytynets (TRO Liga LLC) informed the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) about a case of physical and psychological pressure and damage to filming equipment.
Journalists claim that on March 30, 2023, during the execution of an editorial task, businessman Serhii Berestovyi prevented the channel’s camera crew from carrying out legitimate journalistic activities and damaged the camera.
“That day, a session of the Chernihiv City Council took place. We were given a task to visit the Bon Ami Cafe, where members of one of the political factions gathered instead of going to the session,” NUJU journalist Nataliya Medvedeva said. “The cameraman Andrii Lisun and I took the camera. On the way to the cafe, we turned it on. I also turned on the camera on my phone, just in case.
Meanwhile, as entrepreneur Serhii Berestovyi told the NUJU, he met with the manager of one of his enterprises in this cafe. Therefore, he saw in the hall his familiar city council member, Yurii Tarasovets, who came up, greeted him, and sat down next to him.
“He was about to get up from the table when two people, a woman, and a boy, ran into the cafe. The guy with a camera, and the woman with a phone, says Berestovyi.
…Having seen council member Yurii Tarasovets, Nataliya asked him why he was not at the session. But he, putting the receiver to his ear, went to the café’s exit. Nataliya followed him.
“Meanwhile, Serhii Berestovyi approached cameraman Andrii Lisun, asking who he was and why he was filming him,” said Nataliya. “The cameraman explained that he was working for Dytynets and that the entrepreneur only briefly got into the frame. Andrii must have already turned off his camera at that moment, but my phone recorded it.
… Andrii Lisun explained in the NUJU commentary that he had already turned the camera away from the table where the men were sitting when he heard from the one who remained the question why he was being filmed and who gave permission for it.
“I was already on my way to the exit to film the deputy,” says the cameraman. “I didn’t want to be distracted and said: “Dytynets TV channel. And he added that we didn’t shoot him; he just got into the frame. Then he approached from the front, covering the lens with himself, and said: “Do you want me to break your camera now!” He grabbed the monitor and light with his hands, pulled sharply, and tore off both the monitor and the light with the receiver… The torn parts flew under the table.
Serhii Berestovyi denies that he broke the camera. According to him, when the council member came out, he asked the “guy with the camera” why he was filming him.
“I am a private person,” says Berestovyi. “There is the Constitution. I have a right to private life, I guess? And I say, “Stop filming me.” And he says: “You got into the frame.” I say, “Put the camera away!” I am very freedom-loving, and I will not tolerate encroachments on my rights by the police, the prosecutor’s office, or private individuals. But he stood and continued to film me. Then I got up and went to the exit. I waved off this camera and left. I did not break the camera! If something happened to it, until where and when I don’t know.”
The recording from the camera, which has been preserved, shows that during the conversation with Berestovyi, the camera lens was directed downwards. The camera did not record the attack.
One would think that Serhii Berestovyi, “waving” away from the camera, accidentally damaged it. But the operator categorically insists that he tore off her details quite deliberately. Nataliya Medvedeva also heard the sound that appeared when the camera broke.
“When I started going out for Tarasovets, I heard an unpleasant plastic creaking in the cafe,” says Nataliya. “Meanwhile, I continued to ask Tarasovets why he was not at the session, but he waved me off and left.”
Andrii then left the cafe, saying that his camera had been broken. Then he returned to the cafe, collected the torn parts from the floor, and went outside again.
“Following Andrii, when he came out for the first time, Berestovyi came out, who, in a rude tone, began to ask who we were and why we were filming. I explained that we are filming because we are journalists,” Nataliya said. “And we left.”
Berestovyi confirms that, after leaving the cafe, he began to ask the “guy and woman” who they were, but the woman allegedly replied that she had “another order,” after which they left, although the head of the enterprise, who Berestovyi met in the cafe with, offered to call the police and lawyers.
After leaving the cafe, the journalists backed away from the shock and called the police. Police officers arrived, then two investigative teams, one after the other…
Surveillance cameras installed in and around the cafe could confirm who is right and who is guilty. But the cameras in the facility “didn’t work” at that time. The police will obviously review recordings from other cameras.
“According to this fact, on the same day, criminal proceedings were initiated under Section 1 of Article 171 (Interference with the lawful professional activity of journalists) of the Penal Code of Ukraine,” said Nataliya Slabeniak, the spokeswoman for the Chernihiv Main National Police Department, in a comment to the NUJU. “The investigative operative group of the police worked at the scene of the incident.”
As Ievheniya Antsybor, the editor-in-chief of the TV channel, noted in the NUJU commentary, even though there is a recording of almost the entire incident, except for the direct damage to the camera, the police still did not summon Serhii Berestovyi for questioning. The businessman said the law enforcement officers had not contacted him yet.
“And this, despite the fact that it is not necessary to look for him, he is a well-known person in Chernihiv, a businessman. Time passes, the camera is in the police, and we cannot fix and work with it. But not only is this important, but it also ensures the avoidance of permissiveness. So, that anyone who doesn’t like one of the journalists or cameramen doesn’t go and hit him with the camera,” says Ievheniya Antsybor.
Iryna Lomonos, the TRO Liga LLC acting director, appealed to NUJU to request support in observing the legality of actions against journalists and preventing violations of guaranteed rights and freedoms.
Serhii Berestovyi, meanwhile, insists he has been lied to and is threatening legal action against the media that reported the skirmish. He sees political implications in the incident.
“The situation is ambiguous,” says Oleksandr Nazarenko, the head of the Chernihiv regional organization of the NUJU. “For now, it is difficult to comment. Of course, no one has the right to use violence against anyone, including journalists as well. They do their job. Socially important work. The Chernihiv journalistic community should analyze this incident. We will draw conclusions.”
The NUJU will provide legal, media, and professional support to the TV channel and its employees.
NUJU Information Service
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