Acceso usuarios
Maria Danilova
One breezy morning in June 2013, a group of leading Ukrainian journalists drove to the small village of Novi Petrivtsi, on the outskitts of Kiev, for what has become a familiar ritual: Annually, on Ukraine's Journalists' Day (June 6), the reporters approach the closed gates of the lavish suburban residence of Pres Viktor Yanukovych to stage a rally protesting censorship, are told their presence is illegal, hold the rally nevertheless, and then go home. Barely able to keep straight faces, the journalists asserted that they were not there to stage a protest in violation of the court ruling but, in fact, to make sure that no one else was and that the law was being properly observed. There is no doubt that freedom of speech is under threat in this former Soviet republic. Here, Danilova discusses whether it is okay that Ukraine's journalists are using protests and political theater to fight for press freedom.
