President Viktor Yushchenko awarded a medal to a member of the Ukrainian parliament with a reputation both as a hero of the Ukrainian nationalist movement and, more recently, an antisemite, according to a monthly report on hate crimes and hate speech in Ukraine filed today by UCSJ's Kiev monitor Vyacheslav Likhachyov. Levko Lukyanenko, who was imprisoned by the Soviet government for his peaceful advocacy of a free Ukraine, received the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise on November 22. In recent years, Mr. Lukyanenko has tarnished his heroic reputation as a political dissident with a number of antisemitic statements and actions. For example, he signed a 2005 letter calling for a ban on Jewish organizations, and in a July 21, 2004 interview with the viciously antisemitic magazine "Personnel Plus" accused Jews of "actively working against us" meaning Ukrainians.

Mr. Likhachyov pointed out that while Mr. Lukyanenko deserves a medal for his sacrifices on behalf of the Ukrainian national liberation movement, his more recent actions should have given the government pause. Shortly after President Yushchenko was inaugurated, he granted a similar medal to the editors of the newspaper "Silski Visti" which at the time regularly published antisemitic articles, but was also controlled by the Socialist Party, an ally of President Yushchenko during the Orange Revolution.

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