The lawyers of the Bihus.Info editorial office appealed to the law enforcement officers with statements under several articles — in particular, regarding violation of privacy and obstruction of journalistsʼ activities. This is stated on the project website.
According to Yelyzaveta Seredina, a lawyer for journalists, during the analysis of the published video, it was established that the members of the team had been wiretapped for about a year.
In addition, the cameras that filmed the representatives of Bihus.Info in the suburban complex were apparently pre-installed by unknown people.
"According to these facts, we sent statements to the National Police and the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office under three articles: 182 (violation of privacy), 163 (violation of the confidentiality of correspondence, telephone conversations, telegraphic or other correspondence transmitted by means of communication or through a computer) and 171 (interference) legal professional activity of journalists)," the lawyer notes.
In addition, Bihus.Info appealed to the SBU with the demand to recognize the team members as victims in the already open proceedings.
The Kyiv police said that they are already investigating the fact of surveillance of the Bihus.Info team. They opened criminal proceedings under the article on violation of privacy, which is punishable by up to 5 years of imprisonment. The journalist filed a complaint with the police. In it, she stated about the illegal collection and distribution of confidential information about her.
- On January 16, a video appeared on the Internet, where employees of the Bihus.Info investigation project are allegedly using narcotic substances. The video was shot on a camera placed in a rented house where the employees had a corporate party. The video also included recordings of phone conversations of project workers. Journalists believe that they have been followed for at least several months.
- The head of the project, Denys Bihus, in a video address to the audience, announced the dismissal of the operators caught on video. Later, he added that journalists had been following his project for almost a year. The SBU is investigating the illegal wiretapping of Bihus.Info employees.