“Much remains to be done”
“How would you comment on Congressman Bob Schaffer’s statement on the plight of freedom of speech in Ukraine, as well as on other similar statements made by foreign grassroots organizations?”
“Ukraine has its own parliament and lawmakers and it is up to them to decide the domestic issues of the country regarding the efficacy of actions in this direction. I believe that the US has its own problems in the sphere of journalism which should be of primary concern to Cong. Schaffer.”
“Do our laws regulating the mass media measure up to international legal norms?”
“Ukrainian legislation regulating mass media meets the standards of a democratic society. Under the program of a democratic transformation of society, we have 12 laws and a dozen legislative enactments ensuring a maximum level of freedom of speech. I don’t mean to say that we have no problems in the mass media sector. Still much remains to be done to improve this system.”
“The laws meet civilized standards. Still it is more important how they are implemented.”
“The way laws are implemented (and not only in the mass media sector) always depends on the level of training and responsibility of those implementing them, who have been empowered by the state and people.”
“When, in your opinion, will the issue of restricting the amount of compensation claims against mass media be settled?”
“When still a parliament deputy, I brought this issue up for discussion on a number of occasions. But at that time this issue seemed to fall on deaf ears.”
“Why?”
“I think because there have been countless cases when journalists got carried away, acting contrary to moral principles (this is especially true of the regional mass media), when their materials were an irritant for deputies. This made the latter reconsider their tactics.”
“But the amounts of claims are often absurdly excessive.”
“I agree with you completely on that, as I oppose such compensation amounts being claimed. I believe it necessary to clearly define the limits of amounts of claims for them to become more realistic.”
