Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was found guilty of abuse of office and sentenced to seven years in jail, in a trial widely condemned in the West as politically motivated. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
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Constructing a new political reality in the Ukraine
By Mariana Taraunekh
The trial of the former Ukrainian Prime-Minister Yulia Tymoshenko demonstrates how the mass media construct a new political reality. The most influential global information sources, such as the Washington Post, call on the international community to protect the opposition leader. In these circumstances, the Ukrainian government should consider the current situation.
According to the Kyiv Post on October 11, 2011, a Ukrainian court sentenced Tymoshenko to seven years in jail. A judge found her guilty on charges of overstepping her authority. The West categorized the persecution of Tymoshenko as politically motivated, and the international media started questioning the Ukrainian commitment to the democracy and the rule of law.
The role of the media as a political catalyst plays a significant role in this “matter of selective justice.” By attracting the world attention to Tymoshenko’s imprisonment, the media challenge one of the primary goals of Ukrainian foreign policy: integration into the European Union. The European position on Ukrainian membership is going to be uncompromising until the release of Tymoshenko. In addition, media confers status on Tymoshenko as a victim of political repressions, providing for relative safety for the opposition leader. Will we hear a happy end of the story?