[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 18 (Thursday, February 12, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S1277]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RADIO LIBERTY STIFLED IN UKRAINE

  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, several weeks ago, I addressed the 
Senate, in my capacity as Co-Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, on 
critical Presidential elections scheduled to be held later this year in 
Ukraine. In the latest twist in the lead up to those elections, 
yesterday Radio Liberty was abruptly informed that its Ukrainian 
Service programming would be removed from its major radio 
rebroadcaster's FM schedule, beginning February 17. In a press release, 
RFE/RL President Tom Dine said, ``This is a political act against 
liberal democracy, against free speech and press, against RFE/RL, and 
shows, once again, that Ukraine's political leadership is unable to 
live in an open society and is compelled to `control' the media as if 
it were the good old days of the Soviet Union.''
  This is not the first time that there has been official Ukrainian 
pressure to drop RFE/RL broadcasting since September 2001, shortly 
after the murder of independent journalist Heorhiy Gongadze and the 
release of secretly-recorded tapes in Ukrainian President Kuchma's 
office implicating him and other high-ranking officials in the 
disappearance, corruption, and other dubious actions. Radio Liberty 
covers these and many issues about life in Ukraine, serving as an 
objective source of information in a media environment increasingly 
dominated by these authorities.
  In the past I have spoken out about Ukraine's troubled pre-election 
environment, including its media environment. This latest move, 
together with repressive measures against the democratic opposition and 
independent media over the course of the last few months, raise 
profound questions as to whether the October presidential elections 
will be free, fair, open, and transparent, in a manner consistent with 
Ukraine's freely undertaken OSCE and other international commitments. 
Effectively unplugging an important independent source of information 
does not bode well for democracy in Ukraine.

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