KYIV, Ukraine—A bill has been tabled in the Ukrainian Parliament which, if passed, would officially prohibit the communist ideology in the former Soviet Bloc state.
The bill encompasses prohibiting the public spread of communist ideology, and would legislate the removal of symbols associated with communist rule during the Soviet era. Items related to communism would only be permitted in museums. The Communist Party in Ukraine would also be restricted in its activities, not being allowed to advertise or use media outlets to popularize its ideas.
One of the two initiators of the bill, Ivan Zajac, 57, of the Ukrainian National Party, said he considers the spread of communism as an appeal to restore the regime in Ukraine.
“With this legislation, we want to protect Ukrainians from the spread of this ideology", said Zajac.
The authors hope that the ideology will be condemned as against humanity, in the same way Nazism was banned worldwide.
The bill reads that it aims to prevent “a repetition of the crimes of the communism.”
This is not the first attempt to prohibit the propaganda of communist ideology in Ukraine. On Aug. 30, 1991, Ukraine’s Parliament banned the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU).
However, 10 years later on Dec. 29, 2001, the Constitutional Court (CC) determined that the decision was unconstitutional. According to representatives of the CC, the CPU is not a decedent of the communist party of the Soviet Union.
The current bill seeks to prohibit the ideology, and the CPU is the main carrier of that.
Ukraine’s current president, Victor Yushchenko, pushed forward getting the Ukrainian famine of 1932-1933, which caused millions of deaths, recognized as a crime of communism. In 2006, the Ukrainian Parliament officially recognized the starvation as genocide. Poland, Australia, Canada, and other countries followed that decision making the same acknowledgment.
The bill encompasses prohibiting the public spread of communist ideology, and would legislate the removal of symbols associated with communist rule during the Soviet era. Items related to communism would only be permitted in museums. The Communist Party in Ukraine would also be restricted in its activities, not being allowed to advertise or use media outlets to popularize its ideas.
One of the two initiators of the bill, Ivan Zajac, 57, of the Ukrainian National Party, said he considers the spread of communism as an appeal to restore the regime in Ukraine.
“With this legislation, we want to protect Ukrainians from the spread of this ideology", said Zajac.
The authors hope that the ideology will be condemned as against humanity, in the same way Nazism was banned worldwide.
The bill reads that it aims to prevent “a repetition of the crimes of the communism.”
This is not the first attempt to prohibit the propaganda of communist ideology in Ukraine. On Aug. 30, 1991, Ukraine’s Parliament banned the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU).
However, 10 years later on Dec. 29, 2001, the Constitutional Court (CC) determined that the decision was unconstitutional. According to representatives of the CC, the CPU is not a decedent of the communist party of the Soviet Union.
The current bill seeks to prohibit the ideology, and the CPU is the main carrier of that.
Ukraine’s current president, Victor Yushchenko, pushed forward getting the Ukrainian famine of 1932-1933, which caused millions of deaths, recognized as a crime of communism. In 2006, the Ukrainian Parliament officially recognized the starvation as genocide. Poland, Australia, Canada, and other countries followed that decision making the same acknowledgment.
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