13 Jul 2012 | Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost
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.
15 Dec 2011 | Index Index, minipost
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.
30 Nov 2011 | Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost
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.
24 Oct 2011 | Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost
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.
