KIEV, February 3. /TASS/. TV channels 112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK went off the air in Ukraine on Tuesday night after Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky authorized the National Security Council’s sanctions imposed on them.
Currently, their broadcasts are available only via the YouTube video hosting platform.
In a statement issued early on Wednesday, the channels described the move as a "political crackdown on dissenting mass media."
"The government, represented by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, made the decision to destroy three opposition channels - 112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK, and to impose sanctions on the holding’s owner, people’s deputy Taras Kozak. The National Security and Defense Council made the decision to close the TV channels acting in line with direct instructions from the president," the statement says.
"We view this as a political crackdown on dissenting mass media," the document continues. "We believe that the government - which has no reason to speak about any success - will only permit the channels who are convenient to them and are ready to lie to the people of Ukraine about ‘unprecedented successes.’"
"Here is our address to the president: even if you close dissenting media, the situation in the country will not improve, gas prices won’t go down, coronavirus vaccination won’t begin, radicals won’t stop their violent behavior. That’s why we call on you to engage in something useful rather than doing what you currently do," the channels said.
The general producer of the 112 Ukraine television channel, Artem Marchevsky, also sharply criticized the move.
"It is vital to understand what the three channels really are. They create about about 1,500 jobs. People who call themselves presidents, national security council chiefs and so on made the decision to simply throw those people out. Moreover, they did so without any court ruling, any investigation, without any convincing reason at all," he said in a comment to the Strana.UA news portal.
The head of Ukraine’s National Union of Journalists, Sergei Tomilenko, also sharply criticized the move.
"This decision goes beyond the boundaries of the law. The media can be hold responsible only in the course of a legitimate procedure, when they have the right to defend themselves, following a debate and according to decisions made by media regulators. In this case, TV channels with huge audience were blocked in an extrajudicial fashion," he said.
‘A warning to everyone’
Commenting on the news, Taras Kozak said the presidential decree was "completely illegitimate."
"The present has overstepped his authorities. He has no right to impose sanctions of this kind," Strana.UA quoted the lawmaker as saying. "There were rumors about this, but no one could even think that they can go off-limits and violate the law in such a cynical fashion, by imposing sanctions against a citizen of Ukraine and Ukrainian companies."
"I think, this is a signal, a warning to everyone. But we will not stop and will fight till the end," Kozak added.
Opposition’s response
The Opposition Platform - For Life party described the sanctions against the three TV channels and their owner, lawmaker and party member Taras Kozak as an attempt to usurp power and unleash a crackdown on dissent.
"Ukrainian President Zelensky’s decree to stop broadcasts of 112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK and impose personal sanctions on their owner, member of the Opposition Platform - For Life’s political council Taras Kozak is an attempt to usurp power, an act of blatant censorship, a mechanism created to unleash dictatorship and tyranny in the country, a crackdown on all international principles and norms of democracy," the party said in a statement.
It also described Zelensky’s move as "an attempt to supress an opposition force, which, according to polls, currently enjoys broadest popular support."
According to the party, the decision clearly violates the country’s constitution and the law on sanctions.
"The 112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK TV channels are Ukrainian legal entities, while Taras Kozak is a citizen of Ukraine. Therefore, Zelensky’s decision constitutes an obvious, blatant violation of the Ukrainian law, because the law on sanctions is not applicable to them," the party statement says. "The law and the Constitution of Ukraine - Article 62 - clearly states that a citizen’s rights and freedoms can be restricted only after his guilt is proven in due process and sealed by a court ruling. Without a court ruling, no presidential decree can stop TV channels from operating."
The Opposition Platform - For Life party called upon international organizations and diplomatic missions to condemn the president’s move and "point at inadmissibility of repressions against the opposition and the independent media."
Opposition Platform - For Life lawmaker Nestor Shufrich vowed to raise the issue in the country’s parliament on Wednesday.
"I will initiate a session of a [parliamentary] committee on freedom of speech," he said.
Sanctions against Ukrainian TV channels
Late on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky authorized the National Security Council’s sanctions imposed on the country’s 112 Ukraine TV channel and its regional subsidiaries (Novy Format, Ariadna TV, TV Vybor, PartnerTV and Leader TV), as well as on the NewsOne TV and ZIK channels. The sanctions will be in effect for five years. Those measures envisage "annulling or suspending licenses and other permissions," as well as the ban to use Ukrainian TV and radio frequencies. Their assets will be blocked, and their economic and financial liabilities will be frozen. The management will not be allowed to transfer financial assets to foreign countries, engage in transactions with securities and open accounts in foreign banks.
Besides, Personal sanctions were imposed on Taras Kozak, a lawmaker representing the Opposition Platform - For Life party, who owns 112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK via Ukraine's Mediaholding Novini. Kozak will be restricted in using and managing his assets. His trade operations will be restricted, his economic and financial liabilities will be frozen. This is the first time in Ukraine’s history when personal sanctions are imposed on a Ukrainian citizen and a Verkhovna Rada lawmaker.