Rada chair denies reports on slashing freedom of speech committee

This was announced by Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk at a briefing to a question from an Ukrinform correspondent.

"Today at the meeting, the Chairman of the Committee on Freedom of Speech, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, took the floor to state that this is false information (about the alleged disbandment of the committee - ed.)," the speaker said, calling on the media to check the original sources of information.

Stefanchuk emphasized that the Committee on Freedom of Speech is one of the most open, its activities are transparent.

"As Chairman of the Parliament, on behalf of our Presidium and the Verkhovna Rada, I would like to note that there are no intentions to slash the committee," he said.

In turn, the chair of the committee, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, noted that he had received assurances from the head of the ruling Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamia, that the monomajority would soon nominate a candidate for the position of secretary of the committee, which was held by the recently deceased MP Serhiy Shvets.

Currently, the committee operates with a minimum quorum of three members.

Earlier, media reports claimed a potential disbandment of the parliamentary Committee on Freedom of Speech.

As reported, the MP from the "Servant of the People" faction, Serhiy Shvets, died after a long struggle with a grave illness.