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The Supreme Rada ordered the General Prosecutor’s office to investigate the facts of impeding the professional activities

08.04.2004

The Supreme Rada of Ukraine endorsed the request of Mykola Tomenko, the Head of the Supreme Rada Committee in charge of the freedom of speech and information, about the facts of censorship and impediment to the professional activities of I. Rudich, the editor-in-chief of the TV feature “Territoria bezpeki”, a deputy of the executive editor of the analytic and publicistic features of the Main editorial board of TV features of the Central TV and radio studio of the Ministry of Defense. The request was sent to General Prosecutor of Ukraine S. Piskun and to Minister of Defense of Ukraine V. Shkidchenko.

The request reads that in his appeal to the Head of the Supreme Rada Committee in charge of the freedom of speech and information I. Rudich informed about the fact of the excision from the feature “Territoria bezpeki” (8 June 2003, 10:35 a.m., TV channel “UT-1”) of the records of the interviews with MPs Georgiy Kriuchkov and Viktor Yushchenko. This excision, according to the words of I. Rudich, was made by order of colonel O. Tereverko, the Head of the Central TV and radio studio of the Ministry of Defense. The latter insisted that the order agreed with the Statute of the Central TV and radio studio of the Ministry of Defense. On 9 June colonel O. Tereverko issued Order No. 45 “On the drawbacks in the work on the TV feature “Territoria bezpeki” of the Main editorial board of TV features”, in which he pointed out the “incomplete service competence” of I. Rudich, dismissed Rudich from the post of the editor-in-chief of the feature “Territoria bezpeki” and imposed a fine on him

In the deputy’s request Mykola Tomenko attracts the attention to the fact that the actions committed, according to I. Rudich, by the Head of the Central TV and radio studio of the Ministry of Defense are prohibited by the Constitution of Ukraine (Article 15) and the Law of Ukraine “On information” (Article 45-1). Besides, these actions, most probably, contain the signs of the crime envisaged by Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Impediment to the legal professional activities of journalists”. In the request M. Tomenko asked the General Prosecutor and the Minister of Defense:

- To give the juridical assessment of the actions (also on the presence of the signs of the crime envisaged by Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) of colonel O. Tereverko, the Head of the Central TV and radio studio of the Ministry of Defense, and to take, if necessary, the appropriate measures in the accordance with the operating laws.

- To consider the question whether the Statute of the Central TV and radio studio of the Ministry of Defense agrees with the operating laws, in particular the Law of Ukraine “On information”.

- To check the legality of the above-mentioned Order No. 45 of 9 June 2003 “On the drawbacks in the work on the TV feature “Territoria bezpeki” of the Main editorial board of TV features” issued by the Head of the Central TV and radio studio of the Ministry of Defense, and to take, if necessary, the appropriate measures for its cancellation.

- To consider the question about restoring I. Rudich on the post of the editor-in-chief of the TV feature “Territoria bezpeki”.

- To take measures for the restoration of other rights (including economic) of I. Rudich, which were violated as a result of his dismissal from the post of the editor-in-chief of the TV feature “Territoria bezpeki”.

- To inform MP Mykola Tomenko about the results of the consideration of this request in the term stipulated by law.

17 June 2003, the information of the Public Council in charge of the freedom of speech, http://imi.org.ua/