Ban of Ukraine Communist Party Reflects Kiev Attempts to Suppress Critical Voices

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RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED 24.07.2014

Attempts to ban the Communist Party of Ukraine reflect a dangerous trend in the new Ukrainian government's policy to suppress critical voices, members of European Parliament from the left-wing Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) said in a statement Wednesday.

“Not only do the actions taken against the Communist Party of Ukraine highlight the failure of Ukraine to meet its obligations as a party to many key international human rights instruments, they reflect a dangerous trend in the new Ukrainian government's policy to suppress critical voices,” GUE/NGL, a confederal group in the European Parliament composed of MEPs from national parties, said in the statement.

“The Group expresses its solidarity with the Communist Party of Ukraine and condemns the blackmail, attacks, intimidation and destruction of property that the party has been subjected to in recent months,” the statement reads.

The GUE/NGL Group said it would send relevant messages to the President of the European Parliament and the European Council demanding their intervention into the issue.

“All parties and organizations which criticize the government must be free to act without restrictions and intimidations,” GUE/NGL added.

Ukrainian parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchynov announced Wednesday that the Communist Party, which holds 23 seats in the Verkhovna Rada, would be dissolved on Thursday.

The announcement follows Tuesday changes to the Verkhovna Rada’s rules, allowing the speaker of the house to dissolve the Communist party. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed the lawl on Tuesday evening.

In early May, Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko stated that if he were the head of state, he “would immediately call back all the troops” from the east of Ukraine, calling special operations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions “war against the people.”

Topics: East Europe, Ukraine

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