Speaking Russian, Ukrainian presidential candidate threatened with imprisonment
A former Ukrainian parliamentarian has called for comedian Vladimir Zelensky, the frontrunner in the race for Ukraine's presidency, to be jailed for speaking Russian in front of voters.
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| Comedian Vladimir Zelensky. Photo: Reuters |
According to the news agencyRIA Novosti(Russia), former Ukrainian parliament member Irina Fahrion demanded the immediate "imprisonment" of comedian Vladimir Zelensky, a candidate for President of Ukraine, in a Ukrainian television program on April 2.
Ms Fahrion's reaction was related to Mr Zelensky's previous speech when he thanked Ukrainian voters in Russian after winning the first round of the Ukrainian presidential election.
“Can you translate what he said? I don’t understand what he said. He lives in Ukraine, he learned Ukrainian! He should be jailed today and not allowed to go to the second round! He spoke in Ukrainian in front of the whole country,” Fahrian said.
When the reporter disputed the above opinion and said that “people voted” for Mr. Zelensky, helping him receive a high number of votes, Ms. Fahrion replied that voters supporting this comedian were tantamount to “declaring war.”
“This shows that 30% of (Mr. Zelensky) supporters have started a serious war and in this war we must win, the free and self-reliant people of Ukraine!”, Ms. Fahrion emphasized.
Ukrainian voters went to the polls on March 31 for the first round of the presidential election. The results showed that Mr. Vladimir Zelensky is currently the leading candidate, followed by current President Poroshenko in second place, followed by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
According to the Central Election Commission of Ukraine, since no candidate won more than 50% of the vote, the two candidates with the highest number of votes will face off in the second round of elections scheduled for April 21. In the second round, Mr. Zelensky will face off directly with incumbent President Petro Poroshenko.
