Discrimination of the Ukrainian language: 4 criminal cases were opened in the Mykolaiv Oblast during the year
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- Alona Kokhanchuk
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11:46, 30 December, 2023
Law enforcement officers of the Mykolayiv region are investigating 4 criminal cases opened in 2023 for the use or dissemination of «hate speech».
Serhii Makhno, head of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Mykolaiv region, said this at a press conference on December 29, NikVesti reports.
He added that criminal proceedings are opened under Part 1 of Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. A pre-trial investigation is underway. So far, suspicions in these cases have not been announced.
«It is also an important issue regarding the discrimination of the Ukrainian language and various such conflict situations. It is a priority for us,» said Serhii Makhno.
He also indicated that the law enforcement officers managed to identify only two violators.
We will remind that in July of this year, the law enforcement officers started criminal proceedings on the fact of violating the equality of citizens in Mykolaiv.
We will remind that, according to the woman who took the video, when she was standing with her friend near the store, the man walked past them once and spoke abusively in their direction, after which he left to get a cigarette.
A similar situation occurred in the city center, where a woman began insulting a passerby for speaking in Ukrainian.
Later, the police started criminal proceedings on the fact of violating the equality of citizens.
Language ombudsman Taras Kremin also reacted to the situation, saying that such discrimination is not typical in Ukraine.
Let us also emphasize that as of today, the number of people who speak Ukrainian in everyday life, in particular, in Mykolaiv, has become a record for the years of Ukraine's independence.
In turn , the head of Mykolayiv RMA Vitalii Kim does not see anything terrible in the fact that not all Ukrainians gave up the Russian language at one point. He believes that the transition to Ukrainian should be «natural», and the language does not affect patriotism at all.
In August of this year, a survey showed that almost 60% of Ukrainians communicate exclusively in Ukrainian, but only 9% of citizens use Russian exclusively.