The supervisory board of Suspilne Telebachennya (Public Television) late on Feb. 12 postponed the firing of its CEO Zurab Alasania. The board’s Jan. 31 decision to fire Alasania sparked concerns about censorship ahead of the presidential election as the CEO is seen by many as the guardian of the station’s editorial independence.
Responding to the concerns and public pressure, the board delayed Alasania’s firing until May 6. Earlier the board tried to end his contract starting Feb. 19. The board denied the accusations of censorship.
This way, Alasania will run the TV channel throughout the presidential election. The first round of the election is scheduled for March 31, and the run-off will take place on April 21.
Alasania told the Kyiv Post, however, that this decision does not negate the political motives of his firing, and that the firing will take place ahead of the parliamentary election scheduled for Oct. 27.
The board refused to consider a motion to cancel Alasania’s dismissal.
Alasania said he was still planning to appeal his dismissal in court. Yevhen Hlibovytsky, a member of Suspilne’s board of directors, also appealed the firing on Feb. 12.
Reasons for dismissal
Suspilne’s board said in the initial draft decision on Alasania’s firing that the channel failed to extensively cover events featuring President Petro Poroshenko. But the board removed this from the final draft of the decision, according to the minutes of the Jan. 31 meeting released on Feb. 6.
In the initial draft, Suspilne was criticized for insufficiently covering a religious procession as part of Poroshenko’s efforts to create a united national church, as well as events attended by Poroshenko, including a Kharkiv economic forum and a United Nations meeting. The station was taken to task also for its “falsely interpreted principle of neutrality towards the government.”
In the final draft, the board gave the official justification for the firing as financial mismanagement, allegations that Alasania refuted.
Procedural violations?
Supervisory board members Svitlana Ostapa, Vadym Miskyi and Oleksandr Pavlichenko voted to keep Alasania.
Alasania, Hlibovytsky and the board’s chairman, Tetiana Lebedeva, said that more than three members now claim they had voted against his dismissal. Hlibovytsky argued this could be grounds for considering the vote invalid.
Board member Oleksandr Pavlichenko said in his dissenting opinion that the secret and anonymous vote violated legal provisions on the transparency of board meetings.
In response to the accusation, Lebedeva argued that anonymous voting was legal and was intended to protect board members from external pressure.
Pavlichenko also argued that no legal grounds for firing Alasania had been stated, and an informal audit on which the decision was based could not be considered such grounds and violated the law on the protection of personal data.
He also said that, in violation of procedure, several members of the board had not been informed that Alasania’s resignation would be considered.
Pavlichenko concluded that the vote was thus null and void.
Asked about the alleged procedural violations, Lebedeva said she could not comment on a colleague’s opinion and added that a court should decide whether any procedure was violated.
Censorship?
Dozens of independent journalists signed a joint statement on Feb. 1 in protest against Alasania’s dismissal, saying it was a case of censorship.
In December, Natalie Sedletska, the chief editor of Schemes, an investigative unit of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, said that her sources warned her that Suspilne’s supervisory board was about to consider stopping the broadcasting of Schemes and Nashi Hroshi.
She attributed this to the Presidential Administration’s dissatisfaction with their coverage ahead of the presidential election.
Nashi Hroshi and Schemes have released a number of big investigations of top officials, often involving Poroshenko or his inner circle. In January 2018, Schemes revealed that Poroshenko had gone on a luxurious Maldives vacation.
Lebedeva argued that Suspilne’s board had neither the power nor intention to remove the investigative shows it buys from other firms. She said, however, that the board was considering a move to produce its own shows instead of buying external ones such as Schemes.
