On April 13, journalists of the Lviv newspaper Express put up a sandbag barricade on the central square next to Taras Shevchenko monument.
This unusual action called Wave of Freedom was caused by the March 31 ruling of Lviv’s Franko district court. This district court obliged the newspaper to pay 150,000 hryvnias in damages for a twelve-line material published in 1997. The article claimed that the beginning of a song written by a local composer was plagiarism of Raymond Pauls’ song “A Million Scarlet Roses.” The composer pointed out in his lawsuit that this publication had in fact foiled his tour of Canada.
An extra put out by Express says that the matter “was taken out of the drawer” just as a face-off between the newspaper and regional authorities was reaching its climax.
The action itself began at 9 a.m. in the Franko District Courthouse, where a brass band played a funeral march. At about 10, the journalists went to the Shevchenko monument. There, next to the barricade, an action called Gasping for a Breath began. Musical groups taking part in the action will give concerts every evening. A concert of the Mandry group took place on April 13. The action is to go on every day.
COMMENT
Yaroslav KLYMOVYCH, chief, internal policy department, Lviv oblast state administration:
“Although the construction of a barricade in the city center is illegal (this case is being heard today in the Halytsky People’s Court of Lviv), I support it as an attempt to draw attention to the problems of journalists. At the same time, the action should not be linked to a specific court trial. For we learned about the very fact and results of the latter only today, when Express editor-in-chief Ihor Pochynok came to talk with Vasyl Baziv, deputy chairman of the oblast state administration. Thus we could not possibly exert pressure on the court. We need good journalism, but the materials published should not be based on hearsay. I think a higher court will look into this case. I have seen the barricade today: many people are indignant that it was put up right next to the Taras Shevchenko monument.”
