Posts Tagged ‘Ukraine’
July 13th, 2012
Ukraine’s tax police
raided the office of television station TVi yesterday, accusing the often critical outlet of tax evasion. TVi interrupted its usual programming to show tax inspectors going through financial documents in its Kiev office. The State Tax Service said it had launched a criminal case against TVi’s chief executive, Mykola Knyazhitsky, after finding out that the station had evaded more than 3 million hryvnias (243,000 GBP) in VAT payments, it has been reported. Batkivshchyna, the main opposition party, accused the government of censorship. The raid took place three months before parliamentary elections in Ukraine.
December 15th, 2011
A
Ukranian court has
dropped the case against a former president accused of ordering the
killing of a journalist. Former president Leonid Kuchma was accused of being involved in the murder of Georgy Gongadze by a former interior ministry official who
admitted to strangling the journalist earlier this year. Gongadze was found decapitated after being abducted in Kiev in 2000. Secret audio recordings apparently incriminating the former president were also heard in court, but Kuchma has continually denied any involvement in the murder. Gongadze was founder of the Ukrainska Pravda website, and was often critical of the Ukrainian leader.
November 30th, 2011
A young photographer was
stabbed to death in
Kiev on Monday night. Vitaly Rozvadovsky, a photographer for the Ukrainian weekly
2000, was stabbed at around 11pm and died in hospital around four hours later.
The murder of the 30-year-old is being treated as “murder with premeditation” but it is not believed that the attack relates to Rozvadovsky’s work. Mikhail Denisenko, editor of 2000 said that the photographer had not recently covered any sensitive stories, and he was unaware of Rozvadovsky receiving any threats.
October 24th, 2011
A Ukrainian investigative journalist is a
critical condition after being shot in the head. Oleksander Vlaschenk0 who works for
Nashe Misto, a local newspaper, was hit as he returned to his home in Mykolayiv on 16 October. Two mobile phones and camera were stolen in the attack. The journalist who cover highly sensitive subjects involving local government corruption and organised crime, remains in hospital with a bullet in his head, his attackers have not been identified.
October 11th, 2011
One of
Ukraine‘s most popular and powerful politicians has been sentenced to
seven years in prison. Yulia V Tymoshenko
carried out negotiations with Russia regarding the price of natural gas during 2009, which cost the Ukrainian treasury £118 million, and damaged the country’s own gas industry. The judge, Rodion Kireye, said that Tymoshenko had “used her official powers to criminal ends”, and “committed actions which clearly exceeded her rights and powers”. Tymoshenko believes that the trial is politically-motivated revenge. The European Union immediately issued
a message via Twitter saying it was “deeply disappointed with the verdict”.
September 22nd, 2011
Ukranian journalists have gathered in Kharkiv to
protest the closure of local television channels. The protesters, who gathered at the Mayor’s office on Monday, taped their mouths closed and brought a symbolic coffin which they said was filled with reports that were not aired as a result of the closures. The protesters believe that Kharkiv Mayor Hennady Kernes is responsible for giving the order leading to the station closures. Kernes rejected the charges and said the management at the Kharkiv TV channels who have criticized him should apologize for making “cynical” accusations.
August 10th, 2011
The apartment of
Ukrainian journalist
Oleksiy Matsuka, who is editor-in-chief of the News of Donbass website and the head of a regional public organisation, the Donetsk Institute of Information, was
set on fire on the afternoon of 31 July. Matsuka was not in the apartment when the incident took place. He sees a link between the arson and his journalistic activity, as well as his work in the public domain. “I wrote several articles about the lives of authorities, their incomes, sources of financing. And officials may not like this,” he
said.
April 21st, 2011
The editor of the Kyiv Post, Brian Bonner, was
reinstated to his post on 19 April after journalists for
Ukraine’s leading English newspaper went on strike protesting his dismissal. Bonner was
sacked on 15 April after publishing an interview with the Agricultural Minister which touched on the sensitive topic of grain export quotas. The newspaper’s British owner, Mohammad Zahoor, had
pressured him to discard the interview.
