Ukrzaliznytsia Web editor fired for Facebook comment in support of pro-European rally

The editor of the website of Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian state railroad enterprise) Yevhen Shabliovskyi, who had been working in the transport company’s press service for over two years, was forced to resign after his comment in Facebook concerning the number of trains with participants of the pro-government rally in Kyiv, Radio Liberty informs.

On December 13, information emerged online that the railroad company allocated 27 trains to bring pro-government rally participants to Kyiv. As Shabliovskyi informed, the company’s press service did not receive the exact numbers from the administration, which meant that information was leaked by an insider. For this reason, seeing the number, the editor asked the author «to conceal the source» because the employee who leaked the information could be punished.

When the editor’s boss read this comment, she hinted him that his career was over, as he “could no longer be trusted”. Shabliovskyi thinks that this particular comment was not the true reason for forcing him to resign; the true reason, he thinks, was the fact that he openly supported the pro-European rally against the government. The chief of the Ukrzaliznytsia press service, Olena Lizunova, denies this, and insists on the official version, according to which Yevhen resigned “based on mutual consent of the parties.”