Serhiĭ Naboka

Serhii Vadymovych Naboka (Ukrainian: Сергі́й Вади́мович Набо́ка; 26 April 1955 – 18 January 2003) was a Ukrainian Soviet dissident and journalist. He was the founder of The Voice of Revival, the first legal, uncensored newspaper in Ukraine since the foundation of the Soviet Union.

Early life and career Serhii Vadymovych Naboka was born 26 April 1955 in the city of Tula, Russia, to journalists Kateryna Mykhailivna Zelenska and Vadym Ivanovych Naboka. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved to the city of Kyiv. Serhii was a student at Kyiv's Secondary School No. 130 from 1962 to 1972. At the age of 13 or 14, Naboka read The State and Revolution by Vladimir Lenin; the work led him to develop anti-Soviet and anti-communist views. Later textbooks and state-sponsored literature led him to further question the official history of Ukraine. He later remarked that in reading Soviet literature, "Such a lie was revealed, even in something of a philosophical sense." Naboka first applied to the Institute of Journalism at Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv in 1972, along with the Faculty of Art History at the Kyiv Art Institute (now the National Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture). He was rejected from both, and he later worked as a freelance correspondent for Evening Kyiv and Molod Ukrayiny until 1974, when he was conscripted into the Soviet Army. Due to poor health, he served in an engineering battalion, variously working in Leningrad, Moscow and Riga. Naboka was alarmed…Citește mai mult

Dissident activities While studying at Shevchenko University, Naboka published several works of samvydav, including Justice (Ukrainian: Хлам, romanized: Khlam), an artistic and literary journal directed towards youths, and a copy of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's "Spanish Interview" article. In 1978 or 1980, he co-founded the Kyiv Democratic Club, an informal group dedicated to philosophical, religious and literary discussions. In July 1980 Naboka wrote a leaflet for the club expressing opposition to the Soviet–Afghan War and support for the subsequent 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. In the leaflet, Naboka argued that the Soviet political system was one of "imperialism" and that the Soviet Union lacked democratic freedoms. Naboka was arrested on 11 January 1981, while handing out fliers commemorating the Day of the Ukrainian Political Prisoner. On 29 June of the same year he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment under Article 187-1 of the criminal code of the Ukrainian SSR. He remained imprisoned for three years before being released in 1984, after which he worked as a janitor, librarian and in transportation. During perestroika, Naboka returned to political activity, advocating for the revival of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. In the autumn of 1987, Naboka co-founded the Ukrainian Culturological Club with Oles Shevchenko…Citește mai mult

After independence Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Naboka refused to involve himself in politics, returning to journalism. The Voice of Revival was handed over to the Ukrainian Republican Party, while Naboka focused full-time on the establishment of Radio Liberty offices in Kyiv. He returned to Republic, which began broadcasting news programmes on the UTaR channel. Naboka had plans to expand Republic's presence in Ukraine's news space, but these were disrupted by Leonid Kuchma's election as President of Ukraine; Kuchma took measures to restrict press freedom, including via tax audits, police raids and closures of independent media stations. Beginning in 1999, Naboka also hosted the programme "Human Rights: Ukrainian Reality" on Radio Liberty, as part of which he interviewed individuals who felt that their human rights were being violated by the government. Naboka continued to be a popular television presenter and journalist during the mid- to late 1990s and early 2000s. During a business trip to the prison where he had formerly been imprisoned, Naboka suddenly died from acute heart failure on 18 January 2003. He was buried at Baikove Cemetery on 21 January 2003. Human Rights: Ukrainian Reality was his protégée Nadiia Sherstiuk following his death, but was…Citește mai mult