Journalist: Why am I on trial, not the MPs mentioned by UOJ?

Journalist Andriy Ovcharenko in court. Photo: UOJ

Orthodox journalist Andriy Ovcharenko, during a court hearing on the UOJ case, highlighted the reason for his detention and accusation: his cooperation with the UOJ website, which he claims wrote the truth.

"I am ready to give any kind of undertaking that I will not break the law if they explain to me what law I violated. Was it because the website I cooperated with wrote the truth about what is happening? Are there any guidelines that one must follow to avoid falling under some article?" the journalist said. He explained that previously, if criminal cases were initiated against media workers, it was due to lies or slander, but now things are different.

Ovcharenko stated that now, if a journalist writes about the words of a deputy, it is not the deputy but the media that is blamed.

"If this information (said by the deputy) contains signs of justifying Russian aggression, signs of state treason, why do these deputies sit in the Verkhovna Rada while I, who cooperated with people who wrote about this, sit behind bars? The question is rhetorical," the Orthodox journalist concluded, adding that he did not write, edit, or publish the texts that formed the basis of his accusation.

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As reported by UOJ, during a court session, the judges refused to listen to the defense speech of UOJ journalist Valery Stupnitsky. As a result, the panel of judges decided to dismiss the complaint and keep the journalist in custody.

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