The Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv is obstructing the work of journalists

Judge Serhii Vovk, through an interim measure, has banned investigators from Slidstvo.Info and the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC) from publishing material about the property of the brother of the director of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).

The court’s decision came on July 6 — precisely when Slidstvo.Info and AntAC were preparing to publish an investigation into 143 real estate properties belonging to Oleksandr Sukhachov. Among the properties owned by the SBI director’s brother, journalists found apartments and office premises, and also uncovered connections leading directly to the SBI, which is headed by Oleksii Sukhachov.

Journalists insist this is a form of pressure and an assault on freedom of speech.

Judge Serhii Vovk ruled that the investigation into Sukhachov’s property “could cause irreversible harm to an individual that could not be remedied once the material is published.”

Slidstvo.Info and AntAC are appealing the Pecherskyi Court’s decision. But the mere existence of this ruling already sets a negative precedent for future practice — going forward, such rulings will keep appearing against anyone who creates “obstacles” for the system.

Tellingly, this is not the first time the SBI and the Pecherskyi Court have appeared in the same chain of attempts to ban someone from something. In March 2025, the SBI conducted searches at the High Qualifications Commission of Judges (HQCJ) after judges and the head of the Pecherskyi District Court were summoned for a qualification assessment. As a result of that review, all of them risked losing their positions. In turn, the Pecherskyi District Court reviews the majority of the SBI’s motions for conducting searches and other investigative actions in this agency’s proceedings. A sort of exchange of courtesies.

According to Oleksandr Lemenov, in 2021 Sukhachov’s candidacy as the future director of the SBI was agreed upon with Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President, even before the competition reached its final stage. Journalists have referred to Sukhachov himself as a figure linked to the Tatarov-Portnov network.

And this brings us back to the main point — the successful completion of judicial reform. As long as the system retains courts that can function as instruments of pressure, the country constantly risks sliding backwards — into manual justice, impunity, and authoritarian practices.