Law enforcement authorities arrested the editor-in-chief of popular Ukrainian news site Strana.ua Ihor Huzhva in the early hours of June 23 after an overnight search of his office.
The Prosecutor General’s Office has charged Huzhva with demanding $10,000 not to publish a story about an unnamed Ukrainian lawmaker’s private life and professional activities.
The law enforcers searched the office of Strana.ua, a popular website launched in February 2016, and found $10,000 in marked banknotes that they say he received as a payment to drop a story.
However, Huzhva himself says that the case was fabricated and is a response to his publication’s criticism of authorities.
In a statement published by Strana.ua, Huzhva claimed that back in April lawmaker Dmytro Lynko of the Radical Party offered to pay him to take down a story that said the lawmaker was involved in the organization of a protest against Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.
Huzhva said that he refused the offer.
Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said that the investigators have audio recordings and footage that prove that Huzhva was soliciting a bribe.
Huzhva is a well-known journalist in Kyiv. Before launching Strana.ua in February 2016, he founded and served as editor-in-chief of the Vesti daily newspaper for 2.5 years. Before that, he ran Segodnya, a popular daily newspaper owned by the richest Ukrainian Rinat Akhmetov.
Both Strana.ua and Vesti have often been criticized in Ukraine for their allegedly “anti-Ukrainian” editorial policy and shady sources of funding. Both publications have criticized the post-EuroMaidan Revolution authorities, republished false statements by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk, and used slanted tabloid headlines.
Huzvha also came under criticism when he refused to name the investors of Vesti, an ambitious 2013 media startup that included a newspaper, a website, and a radio station. It led to speculation that the money was coming from either the Russian government or allies of runaway ex-President Viktor Yanukovych.
During 2014-2015, the tax police searched the office of Vesti under suspicions of tax evasion.
When Huzhva launched Strana.ua, he said he invested his own money only, again provoking speculation.
Law enforcers came to search the office of Strana.ua late at night on June 22, while Huzhva and several employees were still there.
Lawyer and ex-Justice Minister Olena Lukash arrived to represent Huzhva.
In an interview with NewsOne TV channel, lawmaker Lynko said that Huzvha or his representatives had blackmailed him, demanding a bribe. According to the first Deputy Head of the National Police Vadym Troyan, Lynko submitted a report to the police on March 31 so the police have been investigating the case until now.
Many consider the case an attack on free speech in Ukraine as Huzhva’s Strana.ua news site was among the most critical of the President Petro Poroshenko’s administration and has had a big audience, often being among the top 10 most read news sites in Ukraine.
In 2016, Strana.ua published an alleged secret memorandum between lawmaker Oleksandr Onyshchenko, acting in the interests of Poroshenko, and Channel 112’s then-owner Andriy Podshchypkov, under which the channel would abstain from criticizing Poroshenko. Podshchypkov said the document was real. Later, lawmaker Sergii Leshchenko published an alleged 2015 plan by the government to take over Channel 112. After that, the channel has had problems with extending its license, while its coverage of Poroshenko has become less critical.
Sergiy Tomilenko of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine said that an overnight search of Strana.ua was something “out of the ordinary.”
“(They) have high ratings and allow themselves to systematically criticize top officials. Therefore, security officials should provide convincing evidence as soon as possible to confirm the seriousness of the allegations,” Tomilenko said in a Facebook post on June 23.
Strana.ua political reporter Denys Rafalsky shares the sentiment. Rafalsky, a former Kyiv Post staff writer, said that law enforcement didn’t show any proof that Huzhva had done anything wrong.
“Meanwhile, the website remains one of the few (Ukrainian) media that regularly publish critical materials about the current government, including President Poroshenko,” Rafalsky said. “Huzhva’s lawyers say that there were violations during the search, which was carried out at night.”
Rafalsky also said that he noticed an “active campaign” launched in social networks by hardcore online supporters of Poroshenko often referred to as “porohobots” to show support of the police search of Strana.ua newsroom at night June 22.
“As for me, this (campaign) speaks for itself,” Rafalsky added.
Among those who supported the website were the Opposition Bloc lawmakers Oleksandr Vilkul and Mykhailo Dobkin, Oleksandra Kuzhel from the Batkivshchyna Party and former Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin.
Leshchenko said the Prosecutor General’s Office should “present evidence to the public” of Huzhva’s wrongdoing.
“(They) have to do it right now, and not someday later, when this news media is destroyed,” Leshchenko said in the Verkhovna Rada on June 23. “It could be a method of destroying Strana.ua. Their opposition, or as some might say ‘anti-Ukrainian views’ cannot be the basis for cracking down on the publication in this way.”
In the video address on June 23, Huzhva said “he’s been long time ready for the provocation of this sort” and will “keep fighting.”
