A Natalya Sedletska development, courtesy of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service:
European Rights Court Orders Ukraine To Refrain From Accessing RFE/RL Journalist's Cell-Phone Data
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered the Ukrainian government not to access any data from the cell phone of RFE/RL investigative reporter Natalya Sedletska.
The September 18 order is in effect until October 18 to give Sedletska time to prepare a full complaint to the court.
The ECHR pledged to consider her appeal "as a matter of priority."
On August 27, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv approved a request from the Prosecutor-General's Office to allow investigators to review all data from Sedletska's cell phone from July 1, 2016 through November 30, 2017.
The ruling stems from a criminal investigation into the alleged disclosure of state secrets to journalists in 2017 by Artem Sytnyk, director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty spokeswoman Joanna Levison said earlier this month that the court's ruling is "inconsistent with Ukraine's own commitments to promote and protect a free press."
Sedletska is the host of Schemes, an award-winning anticorruption television program by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and Ukrainian Public Television.
The Schemes program reported on several investigations involving senior Ukrainian officials, including Prosecutor-General Yuriy Lutsenko, during the period in question.
The United States, the European Union, and international media watchdogs have expressed concern over the Ukrainian court ruling.