Ukraine sanctions and bans three Russian propaganda TV channels
On Feb. 2, President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions on Ukrainian member of parliament Taras Kozak and subsequently sanctioned and banned three national news channels in Ukraine: 112 Ukraine, NewsOne, and ZIK. One of the alleged reasons for the sanctions was Kozak’s financing of terrorism in the form of illegal coal trading in favor of terrorist organizations functioning on the Russia-occupied territories.
Kozak is a long-time associate of the head of the pro-Kremlin, 44-member opposition faction and Vladimir Putin’s personal friend Viktor Medvedchuk. It is believed that Kozak does not have an independent business, but is holding assets in the name of Medvedchuk. The move to ban TV channels was supported by the leading media organizations and fact-checkers community as those channels were vehicles of Russian propaganda of and did not comply with journalist standards. Also, the leading nongovernmental organizations appealed to the US government requesting to extend their sanctions against Kozak and other associates of Medvedchuk.
Parliament keeps resisting the judicial reform
On Feb. 2, parliament voted for the draft law No.4229 in the first reading. It suggests the temporary transfer of the High Qualifications Commission of Justice (HQCJ) powers on the selection of judges to the High Council of Justice (HCJ). In particular, the HCJ should finish competition for at least 35 judicial positions launched by the HQCJ on Aug. 5 2019.
Importantly, under draft law No. 4229 the HCJ will appoint outsiders of competitions conducted in 2011-2016 without checking their competence and integrity. Thus, the draft law No. 4229 contradicts the recent Venice Commission opinion on the judiciary reform where the experts stressed on the importance of the HCJ reform before it receives new powers. The expert community appealed to parliament not to adopt this law.
Also, the Committee on Legal Policy on its meeting of February 3, greenlighted all five candidates for a vacant position of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine judge. In spite of the Constitution envisaging a competitive selection process, the committee failed to conduct any assessment of the candidates suggested by factions. In particular, the committee ignored the fact a candidate from the pro-Kremlin opposition bloc, Yurii Pavlenko, does not have 15 years of legal experience required by the Constitution as he had graduated from law university only in 2014. Thus, in the upcoming plenary days, members of parliament will try to push the appointment of a new Constitutional Court judge without competition and against the recent Venice Commission recommendations.
MPs attempt to undermine the future anti-corruption strategy
Last week the Anti-Corruption Committee began to consider amendments to the Anti-Corruption Strategy. Members of Parliament have already shown reluctance to approve an ambitious and effective strategy for the upcoming years. MPs try to downplay the strategy developed by the NACP and weaken its key provisions.
