Ukraine narrowly escaped an unexpected curb on free speech. Parliament recently approved a new law ordering that financial compensation for “spreading unreliable information” should be based on the status of the offended person.
President Victor Yushchenko vetoed the law on Dec. 1. The measure would have proposed larger fines for spreading “unreliable” information about parliamentary deputies and bureaucrats. But critics said parliament’s decision to pass the amendment in the first place showed a lack of respect for media, and was an attempt to secure special privileges for themselves.
On Nov. 17, 281 lawmakers voted to amend Ukraine’s civil code, obliging courts to take into account “the person’s status” while making decisions on the size of fines for “spreading unreliable information.” The law was drafted jointly by Andriy Portnov from Prime Minister’s Yulia Tymoshenko’s bloc and Vice Speaker Oleksandr Lavrynovych from the Party of Regions.
Media law experts and journalists condemned the law and Yushchenko agreed, saying that it contradicted the Constitution. Lawmakers, however, could still override the president’s veto.
Journalists are sure the amendment was an attempt to minimize criticism of candidates ahead of the Jan. 17 presidential election. “Everything politicians think up is done to shut up opponents,” said Roman Skrypin, head of the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine. “They create special conditions [for themselves] as under freedom of speech it is more difficult. And journalists usually remain scapegoats.”
Neither Portnov nor Lavrynovych, the authors of the amendment, responded to repeated requests for comment.
Taras Shevchenko, director of the Media Law Institute, a Kyiv-based think tank, said the law provided for politicians and bureaucrats to claim Hr 1 million for untrue information spread in the media, while an average citizen can claim Hr 100,000 for the same offense. He said that public officials should not have special privileges and, in fact, should be open to strong criticism.
“This contradicts the freedom of speech standards determined by European Convention on Human Rights and European court decisions interpreting it,” Shevchenko added.
Ukraine’s constitution says that everyone in the country is equal before the law, regardless of status, and has equal rights to be protected from damage caused by untrue information. The European Convention on Human Rights has been a part of country’s national legislation since 1996.
But some parliamentarians say that unprofessional journalism is damaging and should be clamped down on. Hanna Herman, a lawmaker from Party of Regions who heads parliament’s freedom of speech committee, said she “is taking responsibility” for developing such civil code amendments. “I don’t think my right for true information as a parliamentary deputy is something bigger than the same right of other citizens,” Herman said. “But the unprofessional spreading of unreliable, unchecked information by media should be stopped.”
This isn’t the first attempt to prevent politicians from criticism by media through the legal system. In September, Pechersk district court in Kyiv banned “any individual or legal entities” from posting any “unfair advertisements against the head of Ukraine’s government” on billboards, via the Internet, radio or television. The court decision came as an outcome of a Tymoshenko bloc lawsuit against the Regions Party for a video mocking Tymoshenko. The decision was canceled after several days under pressure from society.
Taras Petriv, head of the National Committee on Freedom of Speech, says the pressure on journalists has increased during the election campaign. “The current situation in information environment can cause cutting freedom of speech achievements of previous years,” Petriv added.
Kyiv Post staff writerAlina Pastukhova can be reached at [email protected].
