The Odesa
Administrative Court of Appeal upheld the first instance decision regarding a
lawsuit filed by Leonid Shtekel and Serhiy Dibrov, enabling journalists to
obtain copies of forensic experts' conclusions related to "Odesa 2 May
trial," according to online local news portal Dumskaya.
The panel
of judges, headed by Andriy Bitov, did not support arguments of the Prosecutor
General's Office and a regional bureau of forensic and medical expertise. The
court admits that there is a significant public interest in experts'
conclusions, which have been made in the framework of criminal proceedings. The
police, prosecutors and the regional bureau of forensic and medical expertise
were not able to justify a need to limit access to this information.
Thus, a ruling
of the District Administrative Court has entered into force. In accordance with
the court ruling, the regional bureau of forensic and medical expertise is
required to provide journalists, at their request, with copies of the relevant
documents without specifying names and other identifying information of the
victims and experts.
According to
Dibrov, this is the first judgment of its kind in Ukraine. Despite the fact
that the Law of Ukraine "On access to public information" expressly
provides for transparency of information in cases where the public interest
outweighs interests of the investigation, all the materials of the criminal
case are automatically classified according to the established practice.
Asked about
possible reasons for reluctance of law enforcement agencies to make public
those documents, Dibrov suggested that the prosecutor's office does not want to
lose its monopoly power with regard to information obtained in the course of
criminal investigation. As far as forensic and medical experts are concerned,
Dibrov does not rule out that the bureau is seeking to prevent independent
examination of actions of the experts, the completeness of their studies and
the reliability of their findings.
As UNIAN
reported earlier, on May 2, 2014 clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian
activists erupted in Odesa, killing shortly several people in the center of the
city. After that the pro-Ukrainian activists came to Kulikovo Field, in a camp
of pro-Russian citizens. The Trade Unions House located on Kulikovo Field with
many people inside was set on fire. Some burned to death, while others
suffocated or jumped out of windows. A total of 48 people died in Odessa's violence
and about 300 others sustained injuries.
UNIAN memo. The
"May 2 Group," a collection of journalists and experts who have
conducted an independent investigation of the events that took place in Odesa
on May 2.
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