The chairman of the political council of the Opposition Platform – For Life party, Viktor Medvedchuk, accused the team of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of organizing repressions against his political opponents.
According to him, there is an attack on freedom of speech and the fundamental principles of democracy in the country.
“Zelenskiy’s team has launched a real repression against their political opponents, the country is undergoing an unprecedented attack on freedom of speech and the fundamental principles of democracy,” he wrote on his Twitter account on Saturday, April 24.
Earlier on the same day, it became known about the blocking of the accounts of the TV channels ZIK, 112 Ukraine and NewsOne on YouTube. The press service of the TV channel “Pershy Nezalezhny” clarified that this is due to daily inquiries from the office of the President of Ukraine.
In turn, the Minister of Culture of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko thanked YouTube for making this decision.
The head of the youth wing of the Ukrainian “Opposition Platform – For Life” Artem Marchevsky called the incident absurd, suggesting that in this way the office of the President of Ukraine is trying to save itself from criticism.
In early February, Zelensky put into effect the NSDC decision on restrictions against the TV and radio company 112 Ukraine, its regional channels Ariadna TV, TV Vybor, New Format, Partner TV and Leader TV, as well as the company News 24 hours ”(NewsOne TV channel). The decision was explained by the fight against “propaganda”. Since February 3, the TV channels “112 Ukraine”, NewsOne and ZIK have stopped broadcasting.
According to a poll by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology, the data of which was published on February 11, more than 40% of Ukrainians called the closure of TV channels a mistake.
The Pershy Nezalezhny (First Independent) TV channel was created by journalists from ZIK, 112 Ukraine and NewsOne. An hour after the start of the broadcast, they were disconnected from the satellite. Then, at the request of the Security Service of Ukraine, the TV channels were also disconnected from cable broadcasting. However, the broadcasts continued on YouTube, Gazeta.ru writes.