Kiev Calls 567 Artists Threats to National Security

by Stephen Lendman

Rogue states maintain power by intimidation, repression and controlling the message - suppressing anything challenging their authority.

Ukraine is an illegitimate US-installed fascist police state - a rogue regime opposed to fundamental freedoms. It’s waging war on its own people.

Its human rights record is horrendous. Even the State Department admits it harasses and discriminates against ethnic minorities, makes arbitrary arrests for political reasons, abuses individuals in custody including torture, engages in human trafficking, operates a corrupt judicial system, denies due process, commits violence against women, abuses children, uses forced labor, and severely limits the right of workers to strike.

Left unexplained is its war on dissent. Press and speech freedoms aren’t tolerated.

In July, Ukraine’s culture ministry labeled 567 actors, musicians and other artists “persona non grata,” banned from performing publicly for allegedly threatening national security.

Included is famous French actor Gerard Depardieu, singer and composer Goran Bregovic and US actor Steven Seagal.

Culture minister Vyacheslav Kirilenko said individuals listed are being investigated by Ukraine’s security service and defense council to determine what threats they may pose to the nation’s “territorial integrity.”

Included are “117 Russian entertainers who are threatening Ukraine’s national security,” he said. After Bregovic visited Sevastopol in March, his scheduled Ukraine concerts were cancelled.

Kiev authorities claimed he entered Crimea illegally - through checkpoints the regime doesn’t control. Last year, Seagal visited Crimea.

He called US policy on Ukraine “idiotic.” He respects Vladimir Putin “as a brother.” He supports his Crimean policy.

In mid-July, Ukraine’s interior and culture ministries as well as its security service banned award-winning Serbian film director/musician Emir Kusturica from performing  in the country.

A culture ministry statement said it’s “(t)o avert the risks of mass violations of public order, protest actions and disruption of events to commemorate the 1,000 anniversary of the death of Great Prince Vladimir of Kiev on July 28.”

“It would be expedient for Emir Kusturica to refrain from giving a concert in Kiev on that day.” He’s persona non grata for supporting Russia’s Ukraine policy.

On August 9, Kiev officially blacklisted French actor Gerard Depardieu and 12 Russian artists - calling them “threat(s) to national security” for supporting Putin agreeing to let Crimea rejoin Russia.

Seventy-seven-year-old/Southeastern Ukraine born Russian parliamentarian/singer (called the Soviet Frank Sinatra) Iosif Kobzon was blacklisted for supporting Donbass freedom fighters. So was Soviet era movie star Mikhail Boyarsky for signing an open letter supporting Crimea rejoining Russia.

Separately, former German official/current European integration work stream’s Agency for the Modernization of Ukraine head Gunter Verheugen wrote a Suddeutsche Zeitung published op-ed, saying:

“Ukraine is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. The economy is in a tailspin, and unemployment is going through the roof. Chances of a rebound are next to nil because who is going to invest anything in a situation like this?”

“Public disenchantment and anger over the political situation that has not changed since the Maidan revolution are growing. The popularity of the government and the president are down, and the ultranationalists are sowing hatred and provoking unrest.”

He warned of greater crisis this winter - including power outages, lack of heat and other humanitarian issues heading toward social and political unrest.

He blamed wrongheaded Western policies, adding: “The European Union should wake up to the prospect of a humanitarian catastrophe flaring up in Ukraine and start talking about the upcoming winter, also with Russia.”

At the same time, lunatics in Washington want Ukraine more heavily armed than already. Former Bush national security advisor/current Orwellian named/neocon infested US Institute of Peace head Stephen Hadley urges “rais(ing) the cost for what Russia is doing in Ukraine.”

He’s one of many likeminded US ideologues wanting regime change in Russia - by war if other methods fail.  They urge toppling all independent governments Washington doesn’t control - a WW III scenario without stating it.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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