MUkrainian media outlets accuse the former director of Ukrinform, Oleksiy Matsouka, of having an editorial policy that exclusively supported President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government, to the detriment of any opposition voice.
Doubts about the impartiality of the Ukrainian state news agency were reinforced by the recent replacement of Matsouka by a military spokesman, Sergei Cherevaty, to the point that calls for the Public Prosecutor’s Office to intervene to open an investigation have multiplied.
“I am preparing the appropriate appeals to present to the National Radio and Television Council and the Prosecutor General’s Office,” Yaroslav Yurchychin, who heads a parliamentary committee on freedom of expression, said on social media.
Speaking to the French agency AFP, he also said that an investigation will determine whether presidential government officials pressured the media to “tighten control” of the information space.
“Pressuring journalists is a crime,” said another deputy, Iryna Gerashchenko.
According to the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, Matsuka’s resignation came after Western embassies, which support Ukraine against Russia, became aware of the way Ukrinform was run, but his replacement by an army spokesman was met with skepticism.
Censorship is a sensitive issue in Ukraine, which has promised to carry out reforms, particularly with regard to press freedom, as part of its ambition to join the European Union and NATO.
The NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) notes that the State has become “a central media player” since the Russian invasion in February 2022.
Many other media outlets, in particular television channels, are owned by private groups.
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2571655/deputados-e-jornalistas-ucranianos-pedem-investigacao-a-suposta-censura
