Viktor Medvedchuk’s Ukrainian Choice movement has filed a lawsuit against a recent decision by the Lviv Regional Council to impose a moratorium on the public use of a Russian-language cultural product, and asked the court that the decision be suspended.
The Sept. 18 resolution “On the moratorium on the public use of a Russian-language cultural product in the Lviv region” discriminates against the Russian-speaking citizens,” the Ukrainian Choice’s press service said on Oct. 8.
“The Lviv Regional Council’s decision is the best indication yet that those obsessed with the Russophobic hysteria will stop at nothing: neither a total advance on citizens’ constitutional rights nor a violation of international treaties Ukraine has ratified, thereby undertaking to comply with them,” Medvedchuk, who is also a member of the For Life party, said.
He believes that the moratorium, supposedly to “prevent the incitement of ethnic hatred,” violates both the Ukrainian laws and international documents, including Article 10 of the Ukrainian Constitution, the national laws on self-administration, culture, ethnic minorities, preventing and countering discrimination, the Council of Europe framework convention for the Protection of National Minorities, and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
“Such a cynical and gross trampling on citizens’ rights is unacceptable in a civilized society (let alone in the country which, as our leaders have been trying to convince us, is moving towards becoming a democracy and reaching European standards),” Medvedchuk said.
It was reported that on Sept. 18, the Lviv Regional Council voted 57-27 for a moratorium on the public of use of Russian-language cultural products in the region “until a total end to the occupation of the Ukrainian territory.”
