RPDI Annual Report (2020) | Page 34

cooperation with the biggest investigative centers

* The interrogation of Anna Babinets from Slidstvo . Info by the National Police had no consequences for the media outlet and the journalist herself . Anna was informed that she was a witness in the case of the surveillance of former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Jovanovich . The reason for the interrogation was a request sent by Slidstvo . Info to Oleksandr Dubinsky , MP , about his connections with American politicians .

* Appeals to law enforcement

*

Access to public information

agencies had positive results . For example , according to the statement to the State Bureau of Investigations , a criminal proceeding was opened against Oleksandr Dubinskyy for attempting to obtain dual citizenship .

* The reputation of RPDI ’ s lawyers is rising and journalists are fixing mistakes : one of the investigations of the Skhemy : koruptsiya v detalyah ( Schemes : Corruption in Detail ) program wasn ’ t published , as lawyers identified significant risks due to the lack of evidence .

* Media lawyer Lyudmyla Pankratova helped journalists of Tsentr zhurnalistskyh rozsliduvan ( Center of Journalist Investigations ) from Mykolayiv to get access to public information which was « incidentally » identified as « proprietary and not subject to distribution » by the police . It was about a number of crime scene investigation teams in the region . After the lawsuit , the police corrected themselves : provided all the necessary information , as well as conducted an official investigation , and brought to disciplinary responsibility the perpetrator of access denial .

33