The owner of 112 TV Channel Andriy Podshchipkov is asking for political shelter in Belgium, the Detector Media portal reported on Sept. 27.
Podshchipkov told the portal that since early 2016 he had applied for political asylum because to political pressure in Ukraine.
Former creative director of the television channel Viktor Zubrytsky told the publication that initially the owner of the channel asked Austrian authorities to give him political asylum, and later his lawyer convinced Podshchipkov to ask for the status of a refugee in Brussels where he lives.
The portal kp.ua, referring to its own source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), reported that Podshchipkov is applying for the political asylum in Austria where he has been staying in the past several months after a conflict with other shareholders of 112 TV Channel.
“Podshchipkov was to support Onyshchenko in a PR campaign to create an image of person persecuted by Ukrainian authorities,” the source was quoted as saying.
The publication claims that Podshchipkov owns only 1 percent of shares in 112 TV Channel. Strana.ua publication claims Podshchipkov lives in London now.
