Tysk jurist og forfatter: Tysk kansler må fordømme Ukraines fascistiske hitliste (engelsk)

A Blacklist of Ukraine Critics Can Expect To Be Prosecuted as “information terrorists” and “war criminals”

Aug. 9, 2022 (EIRNS)—The German main alternative portal, Nachdenkseiten (NDS), on Monday released the following statement by Dr. Wolfgang Bittner on the Ukrainian Black List, with a personal short introduction by the publisher Albrecht Müller. Dr. Bittner spoke at the last international Schiller Institute conference among other international personalities, who found themselves on the Ukrainian target list.

Albrecht Müller, publisher of NDS, is an economist, journalist, and former SPD-politician, was Chief of Planning in the Chancellor’s Office under Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt; and from 1984-87 member of the German Bundestag for the SPD.

The translation of Müller’s introduction and Dr. Bittner’s full statement follows:

Re: Ukrainian Black List. Now the chancellor is in demand

The Center for Combating Disinformation (CCD), which is subordinate to the Ukrainian president, has blacklisted several Germans in addition to personalities from other countries – including Rolf Mützenich, chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Alice Schwarzer and Wolfgang Bittner, author of the NachDenkSeiten. This is a process that is unacceptable in view of the heated atmosphere and the violence that may ensue against the people on the list. Here, if already the foreign minister presumably cannot be relied upon, the Federal Chancellor is demanded. — Wolfgang Bittner has written a statement on the matter. Here it is. Albrecht Müller.

A statement by Wolfgang Bittner

Ukraine’s Center for Combating Disinformation (CCD) has published a blacklist that includes 72 public figures who have spoken out on the Ukraine conflict and allegedly “promote narratives consistent with Russian propaganda.” The CCD is under the authority of Ukrainian President Volodimir Selensky’s National Security and Defense Council.[1] The list, which includes photographs, is available for viewing on the Internet.[2]

Among those named are: University of Chicago political scientist and international relations analyst John J. Mearsheimer, former CIA officer and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity Ray McGovern, former senator and head of the U.S. Army’s Criminal Justice Division at the Pentagon Richard Black, SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich, journalist and Emma editor Alice Schwarzer, the party leader of the civil rights movement Solidarity and founder of the Schiller Institute Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Swiss ex-intelligence officer and author Jacques Baud, former secretary general of the Congress of South African Trade Unions and minister in President Nelson Mandela’s post-apartheid cabinet Jay Naidoo.

When I recently learned that I, too, was on this list of alleged enemies of Ukraine, I was surprised and perplexed, and, based on the reactions around me, alarmed. Scott Ritter, former Marine Corps intelligence officer and UN weapons inspector, who is also on the CCD list, wrote about this in an open letter to U.S. Congressmen:

“As a citizen of my constituency whose name is on a so-called ‘blacklist’ published by the Ukrainian Center for Counter-Disinformation, my personal and professional life has been and continues to be adversely affected by the chilling effect of being labeled a ‘Russian propagandist’ simply for exercising the right to free speech guaranteed by the United States Constitution. Moreover, Ukraine has in the past turned ‘blacklists’ of this kind into ‘kill lists,’ so that those who speak out against Ukrainian government policies are murdered or threatened with violence.”[3]

The head of Ukraine’s Center for Combating Disinformation, Andriy Shapovalov, whose salary is reportedly paid from U.S. taxpayer funds, convened a roundtable on combating disinformation in Kiev on July 14, 2022. On that occasion, he referred to blacklisted individuals as “information terrorists” who should expect to be prosecuted as “war criminals.”[4] Involved was the U.S. Civil Research and Development Fund (CRDF Global Ukraine), an organization authorized by the U.S. Congress and supported by the U.S. State Department to promote international scientific and technical cooperation. U.S. State Department officials participated in the roundtable, as has become known.[5]

Thus, it can be assumed that discrimination and persecution of critics of Ukrainian and U.S. Ukrainian policy is taking place with the support of U.S. authorities. This is a scandal that needs publicity. True, I am in good company on this list of “information terrorists and war criminals.” But that a European state, whose government calls itself democratic, can do such a thing openly and unchallenged in collusion with US authorities is a disgrace.

The Ukrainian fascists and their helpers obviously know no inhibitions anymore, and they have been confirmed and supported for years by the Western governments, especially the US, British and German ones, their crimes are systematically concealed. But with this black list, in my opinion, the denunciators and warmongers expose themselves.

It is unacceptable that state terrorism is practiced here under the eyes of the world public. The persecution of critics and opposition figures by Ukrainian government organizations must be stopped immediately. The German government is called upon to lodge a protest with the Selenski government against the discrimination against German citizens, of which the SPD parliamentary group leader is one, and to cease all aid to Ukraine. The list of the CCD must be deleted immediately.

It remains to be seen whether this will happen and how the matter will develop further. Since well-known personalities from all over the world are being persecuted here, this will not be easy to ignore internationally. The political situation is appalling, and the persecution of dissenters in connection with the Ukraine war is taking on forms of unchecked fascism. But the Ukrainian government cannot count on the people under attack to be intimidated.

The writer and publicist Dr. jur. Wolfgang Bittner lives in Göttingen. From him appeared in 2014 “The conquest of Europe by the United States,” 2019 “The homeland, the war and the Golden West” and “The new West-East conflict” and 2021 “Germany — betrayed and sold. Backgrounds and Analyses.”

Betrifft: Schwarze Liste der Ukraine – hier ist der Bundeskanzler gefordert

[“1] Disinformation in Ukraine – Doubts about President’s Intentions [”deutschlandfunk.de

[“2] cpd.gov.ua/reports/спікери-які-просувають-співзвучні-ро/

[“3] consortiumnews.com/2022/07/27/us-should-not-fund-ukrainian-blacklist/

[“4] consortiumnews.com/2022/08/03/scott-knight-chuck-schumers-was-on-free-speech/

[“5] Ibid.