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Revocation of 112 Ukraine TV channel license politically motivated — expert

According to the expert, the move was targeted at Chairman of the Political Council of Ukraine’s Opposition Platform - For Life party Viktor Medvedchuk

© EPA-EFE/STEPAN FRANKO, archive

KIEV, September 26. /TASS/. The decision to strip the 112 Ukraine TV channel of its license for nationwide broadcasting in Ukraine is primarily politically motivated, Ukrainian political scientist, director of the Third Sector center Andrei Zolotaryov told TASS.

"This is not as much of an attack on the freedom of speech, as an attack on Medvedchuk [Chairman of the Political Council of Ukraine’s Opposition Platform - For Life party Viktor Medvedchuk is believed to have ties with the channel — TASS]. Political motives are undeniably there," the expert said. According to him, this can be just "the first act" regarding the politician and the TV channel. At the same time, Zolotaryov doubts that the channel will actually be taken off the air.

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112 Ukraine TV channel stripped of broadcast license in Donbass, other regions

"Such measures sometimes turn out to be beneficial to stress the opposition nature and boost ratings [of the channel]," he explained. The expert also stressed that in spite of the decision made by the regulator, 112 Ukraine is still available for viewing on the Internet and through satellite and cable TV, where the channel "is well represented."

The political analyst also emphasized that the channel owners can take this decision to court to try to overturn it, even more so that the issue of rights and legitimacy of the current board of the Ukrainian National Council for TV and Radio Broadcasting is highly questionable. Overall, he concluded that it is no surprise that the council formed under ex-President Pyotr Poroshenko made this decision.

On Thursday, the Ukrainian TV broadcasting regulator ruled against extending the broadcasting license of a number of TV companies in Ukraine. The New Format TV company is one of five regional broadcasters, working under the 112 Ukraine logo. In 2011, the company, as well as Ariadna TV, Partner TV, TV Vybor and Lider TV, received licenses on regional digital broadcast in DVB-T2 (MPEG-4) format. In particular, the New Format TV company received frequencies in all cities of the Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye, Kharkov and Lugansk Regions (except for Lugansk) and in the entire Donetsk Region.

Therefore, the channel was stripped of broadcasting rights across Ukraine, apart from the Odessa Region. According to the National Council, over the past six years the TV channel has violated the broadcast concept. Despite warnings, which were confirmed by the court, the TV channel has failed to rectify these violations, it said.

"We, the TV channel team, consider this as censorship crackdown, which raises a lot of doubts about the existence of freedom of speech in Ukraine," the channel said via statement, assuring that it will notify international organizations about the decision and will appeal it in court.

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