Three Ukrainian TV Channels Stop Broadcasting After Sanctions Against Owner

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2021) Three Ukrainian tv channels - 112.Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK stopped broadcasting after sanctions were imposed on their owner, Verkhovna Rada lawmaker from the Opposition Platform - For Life party Taras Kozak, and on a number of Ukrainian television companies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier put into effect the decision of the country's National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) to impose sanctions on Kozak and a number of Ukrainian TV companies. The document came into force on February 2.

The 112.Ukraine channel published a statement to call the sanctions decision "political reprisal against unwanted media outlets." Its Director General Artyom Marchevsky said he would appeal the decision in courts, including international.

The sanctions against Kozak were imposed for five years. The list of restrictions includes blocking assets, restricting trading operations, preventing the withdrawal of capital from Ukraine, suspension of the fulfillment of economic and financial obligations, cancellation or suspension of licenses and other permits.

Also, TV companies are prohibited from using the radio frequency resource of Ukraine and rebroadcasting TV programs.

Kozak vowed that the 112.Ukraine TV channel would broadcast despite any decisions by the Ukrainian authorities.

The Ukrainskaya Pravda publication said Ukrainian parliament speaker Dmytro Razumkov had abstained from voting on sanctions at the NSDC meeting.

The Opposition Platform - For Life party said that Zelenskyy's decree on sanctions against the TV channels was "an act of usurpation of power, outright censorship, a mechanism for establishing dictatorship and tyranny."

The Union of Journalists of Ukraine condemned the sanctions saying they violated the right to freedom of speech.