New Eastern Europe Issue 1

Bogdana Kostyuk, In Ukraine – The (Un)freedom of Speech Opinion and Analysis 67
The law of force
Th e situation with Channel 5 is just as dramatic. Th e channel belongs to Petro
Poroshenko, a colleague of ex-president Viktor Yushchenko, a businessman and
founder of ROSHEN Corporation (a confectionery manufacturer). Poroshenko has
recently labelled the decision of the court on behalf of the INTER media group,
as an attempt “to redistribute the information sector of Ukraine to narrow the radius
of action of the independent press”,
Western experts accuse Ukraine of
curtailing the freedom of speech,
and demand the leadership of
Ukraine not to deprive
the rights of journalists.
and as trying “to interfere with business”.
Following the court’s decision, Channel 5
notifi ed its viewers of a gradual transition
to a digital platform.
Another aspect regarding Channel 5 and
TVi has also been illustrated through the
example of the corruption of the judicial
system. Representatives of the Ukrainian-
Helsinki group of human rights and the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
claim that the law of force, rather than the force of law, is in operation. In places
outside the capital city of Kyiv, independent editors and journalists are frequently
subject to pressure and impunity by the authorities. Th us, the Ukrainian law sides
with the strongest, such as local offi cials, policymakers or businessmen. Th e Association
of Independent Regional Publishers in Ukraine has compiled a list of infringements
on the freedom of speech and the rights of journalists. Th e association
has noted cases of infringement in Dnipropetrovsk, Kremenchuk, Lviv, Odessa and
Kharkiv. According to the association, representatives of large businesses “dictate
to local authorities and editors what is necessary to report on”, and prevent journalists
from doing their professional duties through pressure on their editors and
from the courts. Th e strictest month, according to the experts of the association,
was February 2011, when seven regional editors indicated pressure upon their employees
and attempts by the authorities to prevent them from working.
Th e situation with the mass media in Ukraine is nothing unusual. Western
experts have accused Ukraine of curtailing the freedom of speech, and have demanded
the leadership of Ukraine to not deprive the rights of journalists and of
citizens to objective information. However, in the opinion of many Ukrainian
journalists, the freedom of speech enjoyed in the country prior to Yanukovych’s
rise to power, happened only by chance. Th ere was basically indiff erence on the
part of the authorities towards journalism. Th ey showed disdain towards the
realities of life and an unwillingness to hear the criticism of the press. Th ere
was also plenty of internal censorship, or self-censorship, and journalists wrote