Kyiv Court Bans Ukraine’s Communist Party
Yesterday’s banning of the Communist Party in Ukraine is a flagrant violation of freedom of expression and association and should be immediately overturned, said Amnesty International.
The Communist party of Ukraine has been banned after a Kyiv court upheld a government lawsuit accusing the party of promoting separatism and inter-ethnic conflict.
The ban prohibits any further action by the party, including running in local or national elections. “This move is propelling Ukraine backwards not forwards on its path to reform and greater respect for human rights”, said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s Director of Europe and Central Asia. The use of the term “communist” is explicitly prohibited by this legislation.
In its latest attempt to separate itself from Russian Federation and its political ideologies, Ukraine has taken steps to outright ban the Communist party there, according to multiple reports.
Kyiv is seeking to cut ties with its Soviet past and previous year made a decision to ban most Communist symbols and organisations.
Last year, Ukraine’s then acting president Oleksandr Turchynov accused the Communist party of helping pro-Russian insurgents who rose up against Kyiv’s new pro-Western leaders after the February ouster of a Russian-backed president.
“Expressing your opinion without fear of prosecution, particularly if that opinion is contrary to the views held by those in position of power, was one of the principles behind the EuroMaydan protests”.
The Communist party confirmed the ruling, saying in its own statement that the court dismissed the party’s countersuit against the Justice Ministry, “despite the arguments advanced by the Communist party’s defense lawyers”.