KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — An international media watchdog urged Ukrainian lawmakers on Wednesday to reject a bill that would make defamation a crime, saying it could “threaten the very existence of independent journalism.”

This week Ukraine’s parliament, dominated by President Viktor Yanukovych’s allies, tentatively approved a bill that would make defamation punishable by up to five years in prison, restoring a Soviet-era practice that Ukraine abolished 11 years ago.