During and immediately after the demonstrations, there were great strides concerning free press in Ukraine. Lingering bits of censorship were falling away and it was easy to believe that Ukraine was actually moving towards European standards of free speech and free press.
That façade is now clearly removed.
First, Ukraine passed a law making possession of pornography a criminal offense. President Yushchenko signed into law a bill which provides for penalties up to seven years in jail for simple possession of pornographic material. (http://korrespondent.net/ukraine/events/887364). As to be expected, the definition of pornography is unclear.
Party of Regions Deputy Vadim Kolesnichenko highlighted the danger of this bill to all citizens by saying “it is a dangerous formulation, which allows the organs to come down against anyone they want.
Going one step further, the Ministry of Culture passed its decision to ban the distribution and showing of the film “Bruno.” According to the ministry, Bruno shows a homosexual character and thus needs to be banned. (http://korrespondent.net/showbiz/cinema/901844)
Despite the continuing corruption, eternal economic crisis and persistent political infighting, until recently it was possible to believe that the Orange Revolution allowed Ukrainians to have the same rights of free speech and free press that all other Europeans enjoy.
These latest decisions show how naive that assumption is. Let’s face it, the Ukrainian government believes that all Ukrainians are children, or perhaps idiots.
The only good news is that the European press has picked up on this and is rightfully highlighting the lack of freedom in Ukraine and its lingering lack of free speech and free press.
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/14/sacha-baron-cohen-bruno-ban)
