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The latest decisions of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine to ban broadcasting of TV channels and impose sanctions against some citizens of Ukraine and the Russian Federation, as well as against a list of legal entities accused of financing terrorism, raise major concerns. The NSDC is an important collective body in the structure of the presidential power, and it is entitled to consider such questions and impose sanctions, within the framework stipulated by the Constitution and legislation. And sanctions indeed are a powerful and effective tool for protecting the national security of Ukraine. However, it is unacceptable that the NSDC is used as an instrument of pressure on journalists, public figures and leaders of political parties.

If the Ukrainian authorities have enough evidence of the illegal actions of Viktor Medvedchuk, members of his family and his team, this evidence should become public and a subject of judicial scrutiny. The NSDC is not the Supreme Court, not the highest judicial body. Any data of intelligence agencies, any analytical information is only an element of the evidence base, but cannot be a substitute for a judicial verdict. In a democratic society, the constitutionally stipulated presumption of innocence, and the rights and freedoms of citizens must function.