Archbishop Gudziak: America silence its own voices!

Archbishop Gudziak: America silence its own voices!

The closure of the traditional US foreign broadcaster "Voice of America" (VOA) provides dismay. In an upset Facebook post, the Ukrainian-Catholic Archbishop Bory's Gudziak, who was the first church representative in the USA, reacted to the outrageous step of the Trump government. He described it as shameful that America "silence his own voice". After 83 years, an institution that has tirelessly campaigned for democracy, justice and human rights is discontinued. Hundreds of employees who work in 47 language services received their dismissals on March 16, which is seriously at risk of reporting in regions with authoritarian governments such as Russia, Iran or China. This already reported Kathpress .

Gudziak warned of the direct consequences of this measure: "International journalists whose visas are bound to their employment contracts must leave the country within 30 days," said the archbishop. Among these are media professionals from China and other countries who are pursued due to their reporting on VOA, such as Ihar Losik, who serves a 15-year prison sentence in Belarus. This brutal reality underlines the dangers in front of which journalists are in authoritarian regimes. The Ukrainian service of VOA is also affected: Ostap Yarysh and Oleksii Kovalenko, two outstanding journalists, received their terminations during a visit to Washington. Despite the dismissals, Gudziak confirmed the ongoing mission to stand up for the truth and expressed his gratitude towards the resigned employees.

The sudden end of VOA has a significant effect on the variety of information worldwide and represents an unprecedented shortcoming of independent reporting. The government decision to stop the financial support of the various US stations not only undermines the journalistic freedom, but also fulfills the dreams of authoritarian rulers, which work towards checking the media. As vatican news is the closure of VOA and similar transmitters for the signal for the Democracy and human rights worldwide, and many are concerned about the future of freedom of expression.