Ukraine’s administrative supreme court met Tuesday in Kiev to examine the appeals of two independent television stations, TVi and 5 Kanal, against the removal of broadcast frequencies.
Pressure has been applied on the two privately owned stations since President Yunukovych took office in February. Since his election, the government has been accused of attempting to restrict freedom of the press by inducing pro-government censorship. Some journalists have claimed that top government intelligence agents have been monitoring them.
TVi and 5 Kanal are currently appealing against Judge Nataliya Blazhivska’s ruling on June 8 to invalidate the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting’s January 27 grant of additional frequencies to both stations. These frequencies would ensure development and greater audience for both channels.
The decision was made in response to legal protests filed by Inter Media Group (IMG), the nation’s largest broadcasting group, when the Broadcasting Council allocated 33 frequencies to TVi, 26 to 5 Kanal and only 20 to IMG’s stations.
On June 7, Kanal 5 published an open letter accusing owner of IMG, and member of the High Council of Justice, Valery Khoroshkovsky, of interfering in the dispute.
Khoroshkovsky, coincidentally, is also the chief of Ukraine’s main spy agency, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), whose agents were allegedly caught on film following TVi executive-director Mykola Knyazhytsky in June.
A link documenting SBU’s alleged surveillance of TVi can be found on youtube.
The Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly criticized the state of affairs on November 25, while the European Council, in a resolution written the same day, condemned the clear conflict of interest in the decision to withdraw frequencies from the two stations.
On December 13, in a joint letter addressed to President Yunukovych and Prime Minister Azarov, journalists from both TVi and 5 Kanal urged the government to consider the resolutions of these European institutions by relieving Khoroshkovsky of some of his positions.
Mykola Kniazhytskyi, executive director of TVi stated: “We want the prosecutor’s office to find out why the Ukrainian Secret Service ordered its officials to tail me, and if it’s true that orders were given to beat me up.
We want the resolutions set forth by the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly and the European Parliament to be implemented, including the parts that speak of “selective revocation of broadcasting frequencies and appointments that could lead to a conflict of interest.” We want our courts to be independent.”
IPI drew attention to the rise of attacks on journalists in an open letter to President Yanukovych in August but has yet to receive a direct response from him.
Most recently, an investigative journalist for Ukrayinska Pravda, was detained for two hours on Monday without apparent cause. Mustafa Nayem, who also hosts a political talk show on TVi, was ordered to get out of a car before his cell phone was confiscated and he was taken to the police station.
IPI Acting Director Alison Bethel McKenzie said: “We reiterate our concern at the ongoing efforts to shut down TVi and other independent broadcasters. We urge President Yanukovych to heed the resolutions set forth by PACE and the European Parliament. ”
UPDATE:
President Yanukovych on Thursday dismissed Head of the Security Service, and owner of Inter Media Group Valeriy Khoroshkovsky as member of the Higher Council of Justice. The decision comes after Khoroshkovsky submitted a letter of resignation.
