“Svidomo” freedom of speech: The Verkhovna Rada demands reprisals against channels that criticize the government
The Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution with a recommendation to the Security Council to impose sanctions against the TV channels “112 Ukraine” and “Newsone” - they allow themselves to broadcast speakers criticizing the current government, for which the owners and employees of the editorial offices were declared “agents of the Kremlin.” TV channels were not helped by the use of official rhetoric about the “aggressor country,” the “separatists” of Donbass and the “annexation” of Crimea.
229 deputies of the Ukrainian parliament voted for the adoption of the resolution, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The authors of the resolution were people’s deputies of Ukraine: the instigators of the Maidan and “fighters for freedom of speech” during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych - Mustafa Nayem, Egor Sobolev, Svetlana Zalischuk, Tatyana Chernovol, Oleg Medunitsa, Sergei Vysotsky, Tatyana Rychkova, etc.
“They will tell you that this resolution is a suppression of freedom of speech. Freedom of speech, let me remind you, is the right of every citizen of Ukraine to have impartial, truthful and balanced information. This is not an indulgence for pro-Russian channels to destroy our state to the tune of our responsible Russian comrades. With this resolution we protect freedom of speech. With this resolution we return this concept to its very essence. Whoever does not vote for this resolution now shows that he, using the information space, using the air of these TV channels, is playing along with Russia in the destruction of our state,” said deputy Sergei Vysotsky, close to the SBU, from the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada.
“Who is the owner of the Tonis channel today, which belonged to Yanukovych’s son? Who is now the owner of Channel 112, which belonged to Zakharchenko through intermediary structures? Who is now the owner of the NewsOne channel, which did not belong directly to the Yanukovych family? Do we have such a body as the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting? Why don’t they come to parliament and ask for help if they are prohibited from doing something by law?” – added MP from Batkivshchyna Sergei Sobolev.
The recommendations of the Ukrainian parliament regarding sanctions against 112 Ukraine and Newsone will be submitted to the Security Council for consideration.
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