Chłopi: March 2011

When Yanukovych came to power I thought the opposition had over-hyped the plagues he had in store for Ukraine. Their main problem was an inclination for hysteria. Among other things, Yanukovych was accused of plotting with Putin to hand Ukraine over to the Russians (a curious idea, since I have yet to see a politician work hard to hand over the fruits of his labor to another one for free, or even ideology). The other problem was a lack of measure. If you're at a 10, screaming injustice and bloody murder, when the president doesn't make the right speech in front of the right monument on a given holiday, people just won't take you seriously when, a few months later, you scream injustice and bloody murder because he put half the opposition in jail. Its all a question of proper adjective management...

That being said, if there is a time to scream injustice and bloody murder, its pretty much now. With each passing day new stories arrive about consecutive violations of freedom of the press, possibly the only thing that the Orange Revolution got right. The situation must be pretty bad indeed if the Reporters without Borders trashed Ukraine's ratings for last year, bringing it down 42 places to 131st, behind Iraq, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, and other "stable democracies."

Most cases of infringement upon press freedom can at least be passably explained away - when taken alone. Yes, there were some procedural violations in the attribution of frequencies to two privately-owned independent broadcasters (though it does not explain why they ultimately lost them, and why Inter Media Group, owned by Ukraine's spymaster Valerii Khoroshkovsky, ultimately benefitted from it; or why he used his agents to put competitors under surveillance). Yes, there is a problem with nationalist groups in Ukraine, though the destruction of the freshly-built Stalin monument is not the main one. But that is not a reason to harass and violate the rights of journalists and bloggers. And, well, one would think that there is just no way to spin the disappearance and probable murder of Vasyl Klimentiev, who set off to investigate local corruption (specifically to photograph a villa belonging chief local tax inspector Stanislav Denisyuk, that day) but never came back. Amazingly, the theory that the probable death was linked to the 67-year-old's proclivity for acts of hooliganism was then floated.

Indeed, across the board the picture is becoming harrowingly clear.

The past weeks brought several fresh developments.

1. After literally a decade, the number one suspect (former President Leonid Kuchma) in the Georgiy Gongadze murder case is finally to be tried. Don't get your hopes up yet, though, because it is unlikely to lead anywhere, and some speculate that it may simply be a PR move made to ultimately acquit the president.

2. Radio Melodiya, an Radio Free Europe affiliate, is facing closure. Indeed, it already is closed, its frequencies having been assigned to a mysterious Novy Orbiy. In an open letter to SBU chief Valerii Khoroshkovsky (yes, the same one), they asked that he investigate possible corruption, particularly ties to National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine members.

3. Gazeta po-Kievski appears to be six feet under. Workers came to picket the Presidential Administration building (see photos below), demanding that there newspaper be reopened and their salaries paid (for the last month). On March 11 the paper was forbidden to print further articles, a demand rejected by the staff who continued to print samizdat versions and post articles on the website (RUS) until their phone lines were cut.
The paper alleges (RUS) that its investor, Igor Kolomoisky (one of Ukraine's top oligarchs) pulled the plug because of publications that were critical of the authorities, notably in what concerns the recent Yanukovych-live conference, in which the head of the state was asked softball questions that the paper (reasonably) denounced as pre-selected. Though Kolomoisky's reps claim the closure is economically motivated, the fact that the editor in chief of po-Kievski allegedly received proposals to resign from his position seems to confirm the "political" theory.
The meeting in front of the Presidential Administration building was well-organized and fairly upbeat, all things considered. Handmade editions of the last Gazeta po-Kievski were made, then sent of into the skies attached to helium filled balloons (they made it around 2,5 meters, until they hit a nearby tree and refused to be budged). A girl writing at a mock typewriter was "producing" articles during the protest.
If only such creativity had the time and opportunity to find a more deserving outlet...