Igor Guzhva, former chief editor of Vesti and now Strana.ua. Source: Facebook.Kyiv is abuzz with the news that the editor-in-chief of several popular and controversial media outlets has fled Ukraine and asked for political asylum in Austria. Igor Guzhva justifies his flight as a reaction to politicised criminal cases and the inaction of Ukrainian law enforcement after radical activists threatened his life. He claims that the administration of President Petro Poroshenko sanctions both forms of harassment and is trying to intimidate him into changing the editorial policy at the popular news website, Strana.ua, which he manages. Two weeks after Guzhva left Ukraine, a Kyiv court issued a warrant for his arrest and the government will ask Austria for his rendition.
Guzhva’s flight has inspired expressions of concern from the OSCE Representative on Freedom in the Media and the Committee to Protect Journalists. In response, Interior Ministry spokesman Artem Shevchenko voiced a common accusation against Guzhva as a “Russian information agent of influence”.
This situation takes place at a time of heightened concern about press freedom in Ukraine, with international observers like Freedom House and the UN human rights monitoring mission raising the alarm about frequent attacks on journalists, the publication of personal information about “suspect” journalists and alleged political and economic pressure on critical media.
