Zelensky issues sanctions against pro-Moscow MP, closes media

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree
on Feb. 2 levying sanctions against pro-Moscow MP Taras Kozak. The sanctions
enact a decision made on the same day by Ukraine’s National Security and
Defense Council. The sanctions include, among others, the five-year closure of
three TV channels, 112.ua, NewsOne and Zik. Kozak is the official owner of
these media outlets, which are widely bieleved to be owned by Viktor
Medvedchuk, Ukrainian businessman, MP and close friend of Russian president
Putin.

Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG) states
that media monitors pinpoint these outlets “as responsible for over 50% of the
pro-Russian propaganda and disinformation in Ukraine”.

KHPG notes that the legality of the decree is
questionable, and that the issues surrounding the decree were reasons given by
then-president Poroshenko as to why he did not shut down the media outlets
during his tenure. This includes the unconstitutionality of the moves, along
with breaking other laws. However, any legal challenge to the decree must go
through the High Administrative Court, and presidential decrees cannot be
stayed until the court hears the case on its merits. In the meantime, the three
media outlets are silent.

James Hydzik: Unlike the
expulsion of Oleksandr Dubinsky from the pro-presidential political faction on
Monday, this move has an immediate impact on the social and political life of
the country. Cutting off the easiest means of spreading domestically pro-Moscow
propaganda will drive the Opposition Platform’s core supporters to Russian
media, but much of the rest will drift into other outlets.

The main question will be about the legality of
President Zelensky’s move. There is no clear-cut right on the part of the
president to sanction Ukrainian citizens.

Given that the president is facing issues in the
Constitutional Court regarding pro-Moscow judges, a move by Kozak to attack the
constitutionality of the decree there as well as the legality based on other
relevant laws is likely. The outcome is uncertain at this time. However, the
sanctions are not a knee-jerk action on the part of an impulsive president, but
follow on a path that has been gaining traction since 2019, when a
parliamentary committee looked into the media campaigns of Russia’s
asymmetrical war against Ukraine. As such, with domestic (media market share)
and geopolitical (information warfare) issues at stake, neither side is about
to back down in the courts.