You're reading: Protest against adoption of slander bill starts in Ukraine

A national protest against the adoption of a bill on the introduction of administrative and criminal responsibility for slander under the slogan "Protect Your Right to Know. Say No to the Slander Bill" started in Ukraine on September 25, the Korrespondent.net online publication, which is one of the organizers of the protest, has said.

The Ukrainska Pravda online publication, the Interfax-Ukraine News
Agency, the Komsomolskaya Pravda v Ukraine newspaper, the Web sites
segodnya.ua, LB.ua, Football.ua, TVi, LigaBusinessInform, Telekritika
and other media are also involved in the protest. At 0800, all
participants of the protest posted on their Web sites a banner with a
demand that the bill on slander not be adopted. The banner contain codes
that can be used by everyone to join in the protest and post the same
banners in Russian, Ukrainian and English languages on their Web sites.

The banner also contains the contact details of the 244 deputies that voted for the slander bill at first reading.

“Call their offices, send them an e-mail, post a message on their
pages in social networks, ask them why they [voted for the bill]. You
can also call or send a letter to the central office of the Regions
Party and the presidential administration to find out why members of the
Regions Party voted for the bill and ask what the president thinks
about it,” the organizers of the protest said.

A group called “Say No to the Slander Bill. This Is Everyone’s
Business,” which was created on September 20, already includes more than
3,200 supporters, including well-known journalists and editors-in-chief
of the leading Ukrainian publications.

“We’re protesting against the bill, which will introduce punishment
in the form of restraint of freedom of two to five years for slander. We
think that this bill, which was initiated by Regions Party members
Vitaliy Zhuravsky and has been passed at first reading by the Regions
Party, the Communist Party of Ukraine, and the People’s Party, will
eliminate freedom of speech in the country by forcing many journalists
to refrain from criticizing the authorities, which could be considered
as slander. We also think that considering the situation with the
judicial system in Ukraine, the bill will be used selectively against
journalists that publish critical articles about the authorities,” reads
a posting on the page of the group.

The supporters of the group think that the bill should be withdrawn
from the parliament as it poses danger to the freedom of speech in
Ukraine.

“We think that the parliamentary majority is introducing a law on
censorship in the guise of the slander bill, and that’s why we are
demanding the withdrawal of this bill. This bill affects not only
journalists, but also all citizens. Any public statement or a comment in
the media could be considered as slander if a court decides that it
could cause damage to the dignity and honor of a person. This bill is a
threat to the whole of civil society,” said the organizers of the
protest.

According to earlier reports, the Ukrainian parliament has passed at
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.

Chairman of the Regions Party parliamentary faction Oleksandr
Yefremov said that the bill on slander would undergo public discussion
before second reading.

A presidential adviser, Hanna Herman, said that Ukrainian President
Viktor Yanukovych would sign the bill on slander if the Verkhovna Rada
passes it in its current wording.