You're reading: TVi, LB.ua journalists face rising pressure

As pressure mounts on Ukrainian news media, journalists and international organizations are voicing alarm over the deteriorating situation ahead of the Oct. 28 parliamentary elections.

Criminal cases were opened this month against TVi channel and LB.ua news website. Access to the channel was also cut off on July 20 in many major cities. Critics see these actions as part of an attempt by the government to shut down two prominent news organizations, while authorities defended their actions.

However, President Viktor Yanukovych has expressed concern about the cases and voiced his support for freedom of speech. “Pluralism of opinions in the press – this is the guarantee of the democratic expression at the forthcoming election,” Yanukovych was quoted as saying earlier this month.

Mykola Kovtunenko, a spokesperson for the State Tax Service in Kyiv, said a criminal case was opened agaisnt TVi director Mykola Kniazhitsky “for the deliberate evasion of paying Hr 3.025 million in taxes,” stemming from undervalued value-added tax obligations.

The State Tax Service received a court order allowing officials to seize four years worth of documents from the office of TVi, which they did on July 12.

LB.ua is being investigated for invading the privacy of lawmaker Volodymyr Landik, whose text messages in parliament were broadcast, according to prosecutors’ spokeswoman Myroslava Mushka, She said Landik insisted on the complaint being investigated. However, Landik said he made up with LB.ua chief editor Sonya Koshkina and has withdrawn the complaint.

The tax action against TVi comes despite promises from tax authorities to not investigate media outlets prior to the elections.

Besides the criminal case, TVi was on July 20 kicked out of major cable network Triolan in 11 cities, including Kyiv. TVi has broadcast some of the nation’s best investigative journalism and, unlike most top TV stations, TVi’s journalists don’t play the roles of cheerleaders for government and others in power.

Those watching TVi via Triolan suddenly found the station was gone. In its place has come Bank TV, the National Bank of Ukraine’s taxpayer-financed channel. The BTV station heavily promotes National Bank chief Serhiy Arbuzov, an ex-subordinate of President Viktor Yanukovych’s older son, millionaire businessman Oleksandr Yanukovych.

Triolan’s explanations are vague. They said the switch happened “by accident” and “cannot be reversed due to technical reasons.” Later they explained BTV is a new channel in Triolan’s network of digital channels.

“The recent decision by the National Council [for TV and Radio] requires us [to include it in the network]. We cannot switch the channels around anymore because we’ll now be asked questions why we have switched off Bankivske TV,” said Vadym Sidorenko, Triolan’s Kyiv representative on July 24.

Triolan has also switched off local Simon channel, which used to broadcast many of TVi programs in Kharkiv Oblast.

TVi says the real reason for their tax and broadcast troubles is political and aimed at shutting the channel down.

The problems started in 2010 when it was denied some frequencies, and the same situation repeated itself in 2011.

This year brought a new kind of trouble as the Tax Service started inspections of the channel in April. In July, they opened the criminal case against the channel’s head, Mykola Kniazhytsky, who is accused of deliberately evading payment of Hr 3 million (or $375,0000) in taxes.

Kniazhytsky denies the accusations and says a court has annulled the tax evasion claim. An appeal in court is pending. He fears authorities may open more criminal cases against him, with the aim of shutting down the channel ahead of the parliamentary elections.

LB.ua editor Koshkina is abroad, somewhere in Europe. She is saying that she fears returning to Ukraine after prosecutors opened the criminal case against the site on July 18.

“It is clear to us and our colleagues that these accusations are made up and are political. The only reason to explain the situation is the upcoming parliamentary elections … Landik is used as a tool to shut us down,” says Koshkina. (Koshkina is her pen name; her real name is Ksenia Vasilenko)

Both Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders voiced their concerns, saying the fresh cases highlight a steadily deteriorating media situation in Ukraine.

“We are disturbed by the developments affecting freedom of information that we have been seeing in the run-up to the elections,” Reporters Without Borders said on July 23. “June and July have been particularly alarming. We are worried about the environment for journalists and about the future of pluralism in broadcasting. Independent media are subject to all kinds of harassment, including constant intimidation, raids and prosecutions.

Ukraine is ranked 116th out of 179 countries in the 2011-2012 Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index.

According to the 2012 Freedom House report, media in Ukraine are “partly free” and freedoms are declining. According to Freedom House, the nation now has the same score as it did in 2004, during President Leonid Kuchma’s authoritarian regime.

And even more restrictions might be on the way for news media.

Party of Regions lawmaker introduced a law on July 24 to make libel a criminal act punishable by fines of up to Hr 85,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.

A similar bill has recently passed by Russia’s lower house of parliament and is expected to be signed by President Vladimir Putin. It makes libel a criminal offense. Such heavy-handed tactics are seen by independent journalists, experts and international organizations as aimed at silencing any criticism of the government or investigations of public spending and corruption.

President Yanukovych voiced concern over the TVi and LB.ua situation and presidential spokeswoman Darka Chepak said both cases will be studied at a July 30 meeting of a working group on media issues.

“Also invited are representatives of international human rights organizations Freedom House, Reporters Without Borders, Article 19, Open Society and experts of the Council of Europe,” Chepak said in a statement on July 23.

LB.ua says the group is a farce. Kniazhytsky’s expectations are also low. “I don’t know any precedents when the tax authorities backtracked on their claims and apologized,” he says.

Kyiv Post staff writer Svitlana Tuchynska can be reached at [email protected]