By Vlad Lavrov, Kyiv Post

After public pressure killed an attempt in parliament to criminalize libel last October, many on both sides warned the battle was not over. Those forecasts appear to be coming true.

Renat Kuzmin, Ukraine’s first deputy prosecutor general, openly called for criminalization of libel as early as next year. If the parliament dominated by the pro-presidential Party of the Regions agrees with Kuzmin and passes such a law,

 critics say it would mean the death of free speech and free press in Ukraine.

“Every attempt to impose criminal liability for defamation is a direct threat for professional journalists, who try to expose bribery, corruption and nepotism in Ukraine,” reads a March 20 statement by the International Federation of Journalists, responding to Kuzmin’s initiative.

In a 12-page opinion article entitled “The Technology of Defamation,” published on March 16 in a niche Kyiv-based Law and Business weekly, Kuzmin argues that defamation is harmful and cites recent events in Ukraine.

Many of Kuzmin’s arguments in favor of libel criminalization relate to criminal cases against imprisoned Yulia Tymoshenko. Kuzmin is leading an aggressive effort to prosecute the former prime minister for various crimes in what Western leaders have called a selective application of justice.

In his article, Kuzmin considers such criticism as nothing less than defamation designed to exert pressure on the country’s court system and, therefore, extremely harmful. The tenor of the article is that Ukraine’s law enforcement, particularly its courts, should be immune from criticism.

After all “the divine nature of the judiciary is emphasized even in the biblical texts,” writes Kuzmin, heavily seasoning his arguments with quotes from the Bible.

According to Kuzmin, some of the examples of defamation in Ukraine include the 2004 Orange Revolution that resulted in the Supreme Court decision to hold a repeat second round of presidential elections that cost then-Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych the presidency.

The Tymoshenko case and public protests against the court decisions fall under the same category in Kuzmin’s line of thinking. “This is an ominous tendency, which can destroy Ukraine’s judiciary, if it’s not stopped,” he writes.

Read More