Far-right Ukrainian nationalist group C14 (pronounced “Sich”) has won a lawsuit against independent television channel Hromadske, which the group alleges damaged its reputation by labeling it “neo-Nazi.”
The case centers on a May 4, 2018 tweet published on a Hromadske Twitter account which deemed C14 a neo-Nazi organization. Hromadske was hardly the first media outlet to connect the nationalist group to neo-Nazi ideology.
However, C14 decided to take Hromadske to court. “We wouldn’t swallow that,” Serhiy Mazur, a prominent member of C14, wrote in a Facebook post.
On Aug. 6, Yulia Kartavtseva, a judge of the Kyiv Economic Court, ruled that Hromadske must refute its previous statement by publishing the court decision and pay a court fee of Hr 3,500 ($137) to C14.
“The ruling is mistaken and illegal,” Hromadske’s attorney, Oksana Tchaikovska, said, according to a publication on television channel’s site. “It introduces an egregious tendency that suppresses freedom of speech.”
Hromadske will appeal the ruling, Tchaikovska said.
Viktor Moroz, the lawyer defending C14, argues that Hromadske’s tweet mischaracterized the organization and harmed its image.
“It is a nationalist group, but not neo-Nazi in any case,” he told Hromadske.
However, several experts agree with the way Hromadske characterized C14 in the tweet.
Hanna Grytsenko, an independent researcher on far-right movements, concluded that C14, which was founded eight years ago, has several features in common with neo-Nazism, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported last year.
She said that the group’s activities can be characterized as racist and xenophobic. For example, members of C14 organized a “Youth Football Cup” for white children only back in 2017.
Moreover, Grytsenko links the number 14 in the organization’s name to the “14 Words,” a slogan coined by American white supremacist and neo-Nazi ideologue David Lane, who is serving 190 years in prison for his involvement in the domestic terrorist organization known as The Order.
Several photos also show C14 members with a flag featuring the Celtic cross, another well-known neo-Nazi symbol.
C14 banners and social media images also use the Tiwaz rune, an arrow pointing upward, according to Vyacheslav Likhachev, who monitors minority rights at the Congress of Ethnic Communities of Ukraine.
That symbol was used by the Hitler Jugend, the Nazi German youth organization, and is popular among neo-Nazi groups, Likhachev told RFE/RL.
C14 is infamous for attacks on Roma camps, journalists, feminists, and LGBT parades. On March 13, a human rights report by the U.S. Department of State deemed it a nationalist hate group.
