Ukraine, Dictatorship

Ukraine, Dictatorship January 18, 2014

Timothy Snyder reports on depressing developments in Ukraine: “President Viktor Yanukovych, in having the deputies of his Party of Regions endorse an extraordinary packet of legislation, has arrogated decisive political power to himself. After hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians spent weeks in the cold demonstrating for basic human rights and a stronger association with Europe, the president has responded with a violation of human rights and a rather sad imitation of Russia.In procedure and in content the laws ‘passed’ by the Ukrainian parliament this week contravene the most basic rights of modern constitutional democracies: to speech, assembly, and representation. Although they concern the most basic aspects of political life, and transform the constitutional structure of the Ukrainian state, these measures were not subjected to even the barest of parliamentary procedures. There were no public hearings, there was no debate in parliament, and there was no actual vote. There was a show of hands in parliament and an estimate of how many hands were raised. The standard electronic voting system, which creates an official record, was not used.”

Yanukovychs rival, Julia Tymoshenko, is imprisoned, and it’s now illegal to protest the imprisonment:

“Speaking at all about the Tymoshenko case will now be risky. Actions deemed to ‘interfere with the work of courts’ have been banned. Making remarks of an ‘offensive’ nature about judges is illegal. It seems unlikely that truth will be a defense. It is true, for example, that the new president of the highest Ukrainian court was once in charge of the court that misplaced documents about President Yanukovychs earlier criminal convictions for rape and robbery. But that seems like exactly the thing that people will no longer be allowed to say. As far as Yanukovychs own record is concerned, the new legislations vaguely worded ban on ‘slander’ will presumably be used to criminalize unfriendly references to the president.”

Virtually all forms of protest have been banned: “Through remarkably large and peaceful public protests against the government beginning late last November, Ukrainians have set a positive example for Europeans these past few weeks. It will now be illegal to violate government procedures for public gatherings. Since there are in fact no such procedures, any public gathering can be deemed against the law. It is now illegal to carry out ‘extremist activities,’ which includes expressing ‘extremist’ views in print, on the Internet, and in phone conversations. Internet providers and phone companies are now required to maintain records that will allow prosecutors to pursue such cases.”

It’s a volatile situation. As Dostoevsky said, if you suppress freedom in one area, people will seek other venues for expression, and it may turn violent. Ukraine sits perilously between violent revolution and dictatorship.


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