You're reading: Opposition benefiting from topic of censorship at mass media, says Hanna Herman

Presidential Administration Deputy Head Hanna Herman says the opposition benefits from the row on the topic of censorship at Ukrainian mass media.

Herman gave her opinion in an interview with the Kommersant-Ukraine newspaper.

"I think the topic of censorship at mass media benefits the opposition at present. Representatives of the opposition need to say that the government exerts pressure on the press. This is a wonderful occasion to appeal to international organizations, rallies, pickets and other things," said the deputy head of the Presidential Administration.

Herman dismissed as unfounded any accusations against the Presidential Administration of attempts to introduce censorship and restrict the freedom of speech in Ukraine.

"The government has nothing to do with any censorship at mass media. There is no censorship. We do not dictate to anybody on how and what should be broadcasted," she said.

Presidential Administration Deputy Head Herman believes the reaction of the foreign journalists organizations to the situation with the freedom of speech in Ukraine has been provoked by the opposition.

"I do not think these organizations yield to the pressure from the opposition, they merely receive ‘correctly’ written materials giving causes for such talks. I presume the whole story is a technological product of the opposition. The opposition cannot find faults and they seek for anything, they are looking for a black cat in the dark room, but there is no cat at all," said Herman.

According to Herman, President Viktor Yanukovych is open for the press and is ready to give answers to any questions at the press conference being prepared for the first 100 days of his term.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the European Federation of Journalists has expressed its concerns with recent complaints by journalists about censorship and restrictions of the freedom of speech at some Ukrainian mass media.

The Reporters Without Borders international organization is concerned with the aggravation of the situation with the freedom of speech in Ukraine.

Before, journalists from the TSN programme on 1+1 TV channel and than from the Vikna programme on STB complained censorship applied to pieces they produce.