NSDC decision on sanctions against TV channels based on evidence-based materials – Avakov
The decision on sanctions against the TV channels 112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK was not taken earlier due to lack of political will, and in the near future the materials on which the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) made a corresponding decision will be made public, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov said.
On Thursday evening, on the air of the Right to Power (Pravo na Vladu) program on 1+1 TV channel, Avakov said that he supported the decision of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who, by his decree, put into effect the NSDC's decision on sanctions against television channels. "I stand in solidarity with him [Zelensky], he had enough political will and enough legal grounds," the minister said.
At the same time, Avakov said that it did not concern criminal prosecution, but "the right of the state, enshrined in the Constitution, by the decision of the NSDC to impose sanctions."
"Ukraine is defending itself from the information poison. And thank God that it had enough will. As for the materials that underlie such a decision. Such materials exist, in my opinion, they are more than reasonable, they are based on two periods: one period concerns the activities since 2018 and the facts when the People's Front faction initiated this process for the first time, and the facts that have now been presented by the Security Service," the Interior Minister said.
"With the help of money earned, including on the territory of the DPR [...] This money funds a number of our media. This is an unacceptable situation. And here I ask you not to confuse freedom of speech and propaganda poison that we receive through the funding of the aggressor-state," Avakov said.
Answering a question about why such a decision had not been taken earlier, the Minister of Internal Affairs said: "There was no political will."
Commenting on the fact that Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov, as a member of the NSDC, abstained from voting for the NSDC's decision on sanctions, speaking about the sufficiency of justifications, the Minister of Internal Affairs said: "Those documents were enough for me [...] The decision that was made is legal, in the legal field."
At the same time, Avakov said that in his opinion, in the near future the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) will provide all the materials, facts that form the basis of the NSDC's decision.
Speaking about whether the sanctions may personally affect one of the leaders of the Opposition Platform - For Life party Viktor Medvedchuk, with whom the TV channels that have come under the sanctions are associated, Avakov said: "He will be responsible for his historical role, and I see that he has not been hiding lately, he talks about it very openly and very clearly."