You're reading: Lytvyn: Bill on slander will not be passed

Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn believes the bill toughening liability for slander will not be passed.

“Now is not a good time to pass such a bill because there is
virtually no boundary between slander and criticism,” Lytvyn said during
a meeting with the PACE committee, which is observing the upcoming
elections in Ukraine.

Lytvyn also said that, if such a bill is passed, it should decree
preventing politicians and state servants from using the provision
toughening liability for slander as a tool for putting pressure on the
mass media.

According to earlier reports, the Ukrainian parliament has passed in
the first reading a bill proposed by Vitaliy Zhuravsky, a member of the
Regions Party parliamentary faction, on amendments to the Ukrainian
Criminal Code and the Ukrainian Criminal Procedure Code toughening
liability for encroachments on people’s honor, dignity, and business
reputation. The document proposes adding Article 145-1 titled “Slander”
to the Ukrainian Criminal Code.

On Sept. 18, the Ukrainian parliament’s human rights ombudsman
Valeria Lutkovska issued an address to the parliament administration,
saying the sanctions proposed by the bill are excessive and may
considerably restrict freedom of speech and freedom of the mass media.

The international organization Reporters Without Borders has called
on the Ukrainian parliament to decline the bill in the second reading.
Representatives of some Ukrainian journalistic organizations believe the
bill should be taken off the parliament agenda and should not be
amended.

Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Valery Khoroshkovsky said he
believes it is premature to pass a law on slander. Yuriy Miroshnychenko,
presidential envoy in the parliament (Regions Party faction), said he
doubts the need to pass the bill, especially before the parliamentary
elections.

The Ukrainian opposition believes the bill is in line with the tendencies towards a reduction of freedom of speech in Ukraine.

At the same time, Zhuravsky said he had used European experience when
he worked on the bill, saying he will not remove it from the agenda.