Journalist trade union considers firing editor of communal newspaper "Narodna Trybuna" illegal

Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine considers the event where the editor of communal newspaper “Narodna Trybuna" (Hlukhiv city, Sumska oblast) Svitlana Khalimonenko, and the inspection of the newspaper's activities by city council an illegal practice. This is the claim of the legal consultant of the Trade Union Oleksander Tarasov. The decision on this was taken by the citu council of Hlukhiv on December 17 after revision of the report of temporary investigation commission. Vita Suhlopova was appointed as acting chief editor of the newspaper. The lawyer of the trade union considers this practice an abuse of power and a dangerous precedent, as in fact city council imposes censorship body that must decide whether the coverage of events during the election campaign was "objective". No laws of Ukraine grant local self-government bodies the rights to jusge on how objective was the coverage of the communal mass media, the lawyer argues. In addition, Khalimonenko was fired during her sick leave, which is against the law.

Meanwhile, on December 21 the office of the newspaper was taken by storm by the representatives of local authorities and local activists who support the resolution, as Khaliminenko was branded as one working for the Party of Regions for a long time.