In that parallel world inhabited by a very large number
of Ukrainian voters there is only the news on national television channels,
including the state-owned UTV-1. That, on the contrary, was only
upbeat. Ukraine, we are told, is “accelerating integration.” It
“is gradually moving towards signing the EU association agreement. The head of state
promises that after the parliamentary elections this process will speed up.”
Another brief news item that day stated the following: “European Union Commissioner Stefan Fuele supports
Ukraine’s integration plans. … In his address to the Yalta summit he stated
that the parliamentary elections would determine the future prospects for
relations between Kyiv and Brussels.”
Not in the slightest inaccurate, of course, but
scarcely informative. In fact, the very rationale behind the heavyweight
presence at the conference is difficult to fathom. The response from
Yanukovych, his foreign minister and others was absolutely predictable, but so
too was the fact that most Ukrainians would hear only a carefully constructed
version of the event. What did the honourable EU representatives really
expect their words about the importance of honest elections to achieve?
Surely not enough to compensate for the propaganda effect of such events on an
increasingly duped audience.
The EU cannot be blamed if Ukraine’s leaders are
willing to throw away European integration rather than play by democratic
rules, but they should not help prop up a charade. The very fact that a
huge number of Ukrainian voters have no chance of learning why this integration
is at threat already casts doubt over the fairness of the coming
elections.
This has been the case for the last two years or more.
What, however, has intensified is the assault on one of the last relatively
independent TV channels – TVi
Over the last two months we have seen serious attempts
to block voters’ access to one of the last sources of criticism of the current
government, hard-hitting questions and investigations exposing corruption and
other infringements. Some 80 cable providers have by now removed TVi from
their packages or, like the Kyiv Volya provider, moved TVi to a much more
expensive package. TVi believes that the National Broadcasting Council is
behind this behaviour which, from any business point of view given the
channel’s popularity, is quite irrational.
On Sept. 12, TVi lost its appeal against the results
of the check carried out by the State Tax Administration. The
Administrative Court of Appeal thus revoked the ruling of the first instance
court which had been in TVi’s favour. It is worth noting that in July the tax
authorities carried out a check leading to criminal proceedings being brought
against the General Director of TVi, Mykola Knyazhytsky. He was accused of not
having paid 3 million UAH in taxes. Knyazhytsky asserts that this was money
owed the channel in VAT. It was over this that, prior to July, a court
found in TVi’s favor.
Following intense criticism including from
international bodies, the prosecutor general announced that the criminal
proceedings had been terminated. There was no cause for relief since at
the same time we began hearing that one after another cable provider had
removed the channel. And now the inconvenient court ruling in TVi’s
favour has been revoked.
Two days ago, the president’s press service reported
that Yanukovych had instructed the national broadcasting council to look into
the actions of the cable providers. Sounds fine, means little. On Sept. 19, he
“called on local authorities to prevent pressure on the media during the
elections.”
Most laudable and his words will doubtless be heard
throughout the country, including by some of those viewers whose access to less
bland fare has been removed.
The danger
to fair and honest elections can be gauged already. With such flagrant
disregard for media freedom and the right to information, perhaps international
observers and EU representatives could make better efforts to ensure that this
is understood now.
Halya Coynash is a member of the Kharkiv Human Rights Group.
