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Administration scrambles to ban video of ceremony with Medvedev
Journal Staff Report

KIEV, May 17 – President Viktor Yanukovych’s administration on Monday scrambled to ban a video showing a burst of wind throwing a big wreath at him during an official ceremony with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Although the video itself is not controversial – some say it’s funny - it is the reaction from the administration and its attempts to stop its release that raise censorship questions.

The video was hours later obtained by Ukrayinska Pravda online newspaper from an undisclosed television crew, and posted on YouTube to become an instant internet sensation in Ukraine and in Russia.

“Now, the scoop is not the fall of the wreath, but the dumbness and the savageness of the administration,” Mustafa Nayem, a journalist who led the attempts to recover the video, said.

The incident occurred when Yanukovych and Medvedev attended the ceremonial laying of two wreaths in Kiev to honor soldiers killed during World War II.

A sudden burst of wind lifted one wreath – the size of Yanukovych - and threw at the Ukrainian president. He was visibly shaken and tried to tackle the wreath for two seconds before his bodyguards had rushed from across the scene to the rescue.

At the same time, Medvedev’s bodyguards also rushed to protect the Russian president by holding his wreath with their hands.

“The video is funny,” one blogger wrote in comments after viewing it on YouTube. “But the problem is in clear attempts to introduce censorship.”

Concerns over the freedom of speech in Ukraine have been rising since the inauguration of Yanukovych to the presidency in February.

A number of attacks on journalists, including by police and local government officials, and restrictions on Ukrainian journalists in covering some Yanukovych press conferences have forced international media organizations to send an open letter to Yanukovych last month. (nr/ez)




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