Tymoshenko and Yanukovych evidently planned to curb freedom of speech by punishing media 'disinformation.'
The relative freedom of the press in Ukraine is frequently cited as one of the main achievements of the 2004 Orange Revolution. But recent events show that this cornerstone of democracy is continually under threat from the country’s top politicians, who display little commitment to free speech.
The constitutional changes reportedly drawn up by the Party of Regions and the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko, or BYuT, in their abortive attempts to form a coalition contained one amendment that is sure to have raised the blood pressure of editors across Ukraine.
The copy of the draft changes, published in the Ukrainian media, contained an addition to Article 34 which foresaw the cancelling of the license of any media organization that published “deliberate disinformation.” There was no precise definition of this term.
“Everyone’s tired of lies on TV and in newspapers. But not even Leonid Danylovych [Kuchma], Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin], nor Alyaxandr Rygoravich [Lukashenko] hit upon such an idea,” wrote influential Ukrainian journalist Serhiy Rakhmanin in the political weekly newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli.
The amendment’s vague wording raised concerns that it could be left open to abuse by politicians and businessmen who want to control the news agenda and prevent criticism.
“If such an article appears in the Constitution, it’s already possible to predict how many state officials and businessmen will rush to court after every critical article and program with a demand to close the newspaper, magazine, TV or radio station for ‘disinformation of society,’” said Igor Lubchenko, head of the National Union of Ukrainian Journalists, in a statement.
Talks between the Party of Regions and BYuT ended in failure, with acrimonious statements from both sides on June 7. The failure of Tymoshenko and Yanukovych to reach an agreement has left the proposed constitutional change on the back burner. But its existence points to a worrying desire in some political circles to control the media.
Last year, BYuT deputy Anton Yatsenko submitted a bill to parliament proposing that journalists be held criminally responsible for deliberately disseminating libelous information.
And with the stakes high as presidential elections approach, media experts are concerned that the fight for control of the media agenda will heat up.
“The authorities have been successfully bringing pressure to bear on media organizations recently,” said Otar Dovzhenko, deputy editor of Telekritika, a media watchdog magazine.
Earlier this month, Volodymyr Pavlyuk, editor of Novy Kanal’s news program, was asked to resign after airing a clip of Tymoshenko saying in despair: “Everything is lost!” This outburst came when the text from her reader disappeared before a speech to the nation following the breakup of coalition negotiations with Yanukovych. The video was broadcast by four channels – Novy, 1 + 1, Inter and TVI. Pressure was allegedly brought to bear on both Novy and 1+1 by Tymoshenko’s team. Top managers of both channels deny this.
Recent weeks have also seen deputies from BYuT reopening the question of the ownership of Inter, the country’s most popular TV channel. A parliamentary commission was set up on May 19 to investigate the death of then-owner Igor Pluzhnikov in 2005, and the subsequent acquisition of his 71 percent stake in Inter. Shortly after his death, his widow reportedly sold a 61 percent stake in the company to Valery Khoroshkovsky, who is now the deputy head of the State Security Service. Khoroshkovsky is a business partner of Dmytro Firtash, Tymoshenko’s bete noire. The prime minister accused him of making huge profits from the gas trade via his 45 percent stake in RosUkrEnergo, formerly the exclusive trading intermediary for Russian gas imports, and of having connections with her political rival, President Victor Yushchenko.
In a more positive move this month, lawmakers passed a resolution banning inspections of media organizations during the upcoming presidential campaign for an election set for next January. The resolution advises the Cabinet of Ministers to take measures to prevent inspections by officials from the executive branch and the government, including the State Tax Administration and the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting. It comes into force from the start of the campaigning period which officially starts 90 days before the election date.
Media experts said the move should help to protect media from political pressure, but that the resolution itself was a double-edged sword. “It means that the media will effectively be working without regulation for several months,” Dovzhenko said. “There will be an increasing number of political advertisements placed in the media, and no one will be able to check.”
