Poroshenko insists staged assassination justified amid mounting public skepticism

Responding to ongoing skepticism from the West
regarding the May 29 staged assassination of a Russian journalist in Kyiv, Ukrainian
President Poroshenko told Spain’s El Pais newspaper that the staging of
assassinations is an acceptable law enforcement method in order to protect
journalists and freedom of the press. “Would you have wanted that Russian
special services killed this journalist? The goal of his murder was in
destabilizing Ukraine and proving the government can’t control the situation in
its own country,” Poroshenko said in the interview published on June 5.

Zenon Zawada: It’s quite
cynical of the Ukrainian president to speak of protecting journalists when he
has been accused by many authorities as having not taken adequate efforts to
investigate the July 2016 murder of prominent Ukrainian journalist Pavel
Sheremet.

Regarding the staged assassination Arkady Babchenko,
Ukrainian law enforcement has yet to prove the role of Russian secret services.
With the evidence not having been provided so far, it’s becoming doubtful that
it will ever surface. Additionally, reports have surfaced in Ukraine that the
staging was really a smokescreen for a business conflict between top Security
Service (SBU) officials over control of an armaments enterprise. Adding to the
confusion was the June 5 publishing of a list of 47 writers alleged to have
been targeted for murder by Russia. Not only has the SBU denied its legitimacy,
but the public also found many of those targeted to be of doubtful influence.

So far, the Poroshenko administration has failed to
justify its seemingly reckless actions in the Babchenko affair. With all the
skeptical reports and ongoing confusion, its reputation has been more harmed
despite repeated assertions that it was protecting freedom of the press.