Ukraine's Opposition Bloc party calls for lifting communist ideology ban

Ukraine's Opposition Bloc Tuesday filed a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court asking to scrap a law which bans using communist symbols in Ukraine.

"We believe that the parliamentary 'majority of the war' has adopted the law, which prohibits communist ideology, to deliberately provoke social conflicts and exacerbate the confrontation in society," the Opposition Bloc political party said in a statement.

They feared that the new legislation will trigger condemnation and prosecution of human attitudes and beliefs and will pave the way for dictatorship and totalitarianism in Ukraine.

Commenting on the party's decision to go to court, Opposition Bloc member Olexandr Vilkul said that the court should assess the controversial law, which would not only worsen the political differences in Ukraine, but could also become a heavy burden on the country's budget.

"The law envisages that Ukraine has to allocate billions from its budget to rename the streets and the cities, instead of using these funds to repair roofs and roads," Vilkul told the parliament.

In April, the Ukrainian parliament approved the legislation, which denounces the ideology of the Soviet communist regime and bans its symbols and "propaganda."

Under the new law, people who produce, distribute or publicly use items containing Soviet symbols and promote communist ideology could be imprisoned for up to ten years. Endi