Ukraine stops broadcasting Russian Orthodox TV channel Soyuz

11 August 2008, 11:11

Moscow, August 11, Interfax - About 25 operators of cable television in Kiev, Sevastopol and Odessa terminated their cooperation with Soyuz.

"Broadcasting of the Soyuz Orthodox TV channel is stopped in Ukraine," press-service of the Ukrainian Union of Orthodox Citizens told Interfax-Religion.

The interviewee of the agency said it became a compulsory measure taken by operators "to execute decisions of the Ukrainian National Security Council on "cleanup" of informational space in the country."

"These repressions will have the converse effect - people will strive to get Soyuz back, to pick up Orthodox broadcast through satellites and Soyuz will have more actual analytical programs especially on situation in Ukraine," the Union of Orthodox Citizens said.

They reminded it was "not the first "Orange" act against Orthodox television: Orthodox channel Kievskaya Rus was barred from broadcasting after "the Orange Revolution."

"Information is the most important factor of our life, thus the attempts to deprive millions of Orthodox Ukrainian citizens of their right on information are the direct persecutions of Orthodoxy," the press service stressed.

"It's clear Orthodox majority in Ukraine doesn't want to listen to anti-canonical anti-church absurd about "local Ukrainian Church" and "Orthodox Pope" in the person of the Constantinople Patriarch, but those who seek separation of the Ukrainian Church from the Russian spare no effort to impose this absurd on Ukraine," representatives of Orthodox community stated.

They believe, "human rights organizations and Russian Foreign Ministry should focus on" the situation with rights of Orthodox citizens in Ukraine and "ban on broadcasting of Orthodox channel Soyuz."

SOURCE: