Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych refused to meet with a group of journalists that gathered outside his residence on Monday, according to the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia (Mirror Weekly) Newspaper Web site.
A posting on ZN.UA reads that the presidential motorcade sped past the journalists that gathered near the gates of his residence. The president’s press secretary Darka Chepak came out to the journalists and congratulated them [on their professional holiday] with roses and a cake. The journalists refused to accept the presents.
Head of Novi Petrivtsi Village Council Radion Starenky, who allegedly initiated a ban on the picket and filed a respective appeal in court, also talked to the journalists.
He noted that the presidential residence is not a suitable place to conduct rallies.
"This is a private area where people live and relax," he said.
According to the Ukrainska Pravda Web publication, about sixty journalists gathered at the residence of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in Mezhyhirya in order to monitor the fulfillment of a court ruling barring them from picketing there.
As reported, Kyiv District Administrative Court issued a ban on holding a protest outside the presidential residence in Mezhyhirya on June 6 by the Stop Censorship! Movement.
On June 4, 2010, at a press conference, President Yanukovych invited reporters to his residence, but the visit failed to take place due to an alleged shortage of buses, and was not rescheduled. A year later, the Stop Censorship! Movement announced its intention to hold a protest at Mezhyhirya on June 6, 2011.
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