DISINFO: International bodies should react to suppression of freedom of speech in Ukraine
SUMMARY
International bodies, including the Organization of Security and Co-operation in Europe, should clearly react to the flagrant suppression of freedom of speech in Ukraine. Kyiv has closed 112 Ukraina, NewsOne and ZIK television channels, special services are interfering with journalistic work, and neo-Nazi extremists are exerting pressure on the media.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin media outlets, claiming that the closure of three television channels -- 112 Ukraina, NewsOne and ZIK -- is a violation of freedom of speech and suppression of the opposition. In reality, these channels were taken off the air on 2 February 2021 after sanctions were imposed on their owner, Taras Kozak. Kozak is a pro-Moscow Ukrainian politician and ally of Viktor Medvedchuk, who is considered a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin is also godfather to Medvedchuk’s daughter. Putin and Ukrainian pro-Kremlin politicians hold Medvedchuk in high esteem for his continual attempts to coerce Ukraine into accepting Russian conditions concerning a peaceful settlement in Donbas.
The closure of these channels was not an encroachment on free speech because Taras Kozak was suspected of dealing with the illegal Moscow-backed separatist entities in Eastern Ukraine, which are the so-called DNR and LNR. Detector Media, a Ukrainian NGO and media watchdog, said in a report in October 2020 that these channels were spreading pro-Kremlin narratives claiming that Ukraine is not a state in its own right, that it is controlled by Nazis and that it is governed from outside.
On 20 February 2021, sanctions were imposed on Medvedchuk as well. These included a freeze on his assets and banned him and his wife Oksana Marchenko from doing business in Ukraine for three years. Suspicion for high treason was announced on 11 May 2021 against Medvedchuk and Kozak. Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said at a news conference:
"Medvedchuk, as the organiser of all this illegal activity, having strong ties with theleadership of the Russian Federation, began, according to the investigation,subversive activities against Ukraine, including in the economic sphere."
Read here and here more pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives, claiming that free speech is suppressed in Ukraine and the pro-Kremlin opposition is being persecuted there.