On the blocking of UOJ
Here we are: the Ukrainian authorities have blocked the UOJ website for the fifth (!) time.
Once again, this was done at the request of the SBU, and once again, without the slightest explanation of the reasons. Not once has the website received any official documents from the authorities raising concerns about specific publications or requesting corrections.
Even the criminal cases opened against three journalists of the platform cannot justify the blocking, as their alleged “crimes”, in the form of news or analytical publications, have not been proven in court.
In fact, what we are witnessing is what people commonly call “lawlessness”. Certain “officials” in offices have decided that this platform bothers them, and they will destroy it: through fabricated criminal cases, website blocking, and other measures.
But these “officials” seem to forget that we no longer live under the dictatorship of the USSR. You cannot get away with iniquities indefinitely. Accountability will come. Definitely.
The UOJ is currently registered as a legal entity in Europe. Very soon, all relevant authorities will be informed about the baseless discrimination against a European media outlet. However, it will not be the anonymous officials in SBU offices who will face consequences and embarrassment but the state of Ukraine itself.
In 1655, a 16-year-old King of France, Louis XIV, gave a speech in parliament that essentially boiled down to the phrase: “I am the state.” Today, some individuals imagine themselves to be Louis XIV and act not according to the law but based on the words of a teenage king. It is deeply regrettable that their actions today shape the face of our country before the world: an unflattering and even ugly face.
But Ukraine is not like that.
