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 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 imprisoned today and not allowed to go to the second round! He spoke in Ukrainian in front of the whole country,” Fahrian declared.
When the reporter disputed the claim, saying that “people voted” for Mr Zelensky, helping him to get a high number of votes, Ms Fahrion replied that voters supporting the comedian was tantamount to “declaring war”.
“This shows that 30% of (Mr. Zelensky’s) 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 vote count showed that Vladimir Zelensky is currently the leading candidate, followed by incumbent President Poroshenko and 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.
