The Ukrainian daily newspaper Kievskie Vedomosti is widely considered an "opposition daily" (RFE/RL Newsline 10 June 1998) linked to the Rukh (Narodnyy Rukh Ukrainy) Party (BRAMA 1998). During the 1998 Parliamentary elections, Kievskie Vedomosti's chief editor Viktor Chayka ran on the Rukh list of candidates, although he was later expelled from the Party after a public dispute with Rukh's leader, Vyacheslav Chornovil (ibid.). The dispute was over the paper's alleged independent stance, which angered Rukh leader Chornovil (ibid.).

Kievskie Vedomosti has been attacked legally by the government on several occasions for its criticism of government officials (RFE/RL Newsline 12 Mar. 1999; European Institute for the Media Feb 1999). Staff salaries were unpaid from November 1996 to April 1999, at which point excessive financial burdens brought on by the government's legal actions forced the newspaper to suspend publication from February to April 1999 (Reporters sans frontières n.d.). Since that period, the paper has continued publication (BBC 6 June 2000; Panorama of Russia 2001) and is listed in the Panorama of Russia's Periodicals Catalog as currently publishing 300 issues per year (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

BBC News. 6 June 2000. "Muted reaction in Kiev" http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/eng...a_reports/newsid_779000/779766.stm [Accessed 5 Oct. 2001]

BRAMA - Gateway to Ukraine. 1998. "Parties Registered for the March 1998 Election in Ukraine by Organizational Affiliations". http://www.brama.com/ua-gov/pol-org.html [Accessed 2 Oct. 2001]

The European Institute for the Media. February 1999. Media in the CIS. http://www.internews.ru/books/media1999/74.html> [Accessed 2 Oct. 2001> (Internews).

Panorama of Russia. 2001. "2001 Periodicals Catalog" http://www.panrus.com/perdclj.htm [Accessed 5 Oct. 2001]

RFE/RL Newsline. 12 March 1999. Hyde, Lily. Ukraine's Independent Media Suffer More Woes. http://www.rferl.org/newsline/1999/03/120399.html [Accessed 2 Oct. 2001]

RFE/RL Newsline. 10 June 1998. Carlsen, Tiffany and Katya Gorchinskaya. Verdict Against Ukrainian Newspaper Threatens Press Freedom. http://www.rferl.org/newsline/1998/06/100698.html [Accessed 2 Oct. 2001]

Reporters sans frontières. "Rapport annuel 2000 - Europe, Ex-URSS". n.d. http://www.rsf.fr/rapport2000/europe/ukraine.html [Accessed 2 Oct. 2001]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB databases

LEXIS/NEXIS

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International

Central Europe Online

Central Europe Review

Human Rights Watch

World News Connection