UKRAINE: Ukraine's protesters rally outside Interior Ministry after attack on investigative journalist

Record ID: 481102

  • Title: UKRAINE: Ukraine's protesters rally outside Interior Ministry after attack on investigative journalist
  • Date: 25th December 2013
  • Summary: KIEV, UKRAINE (DECEMBER 25, 2013) (REUTERS) WIDE OF PROSECUTOR GENERAL OFFICE IN KIEV SIGN "GENERAL PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE OF UKRAINE" POLICE AT ENTRANCE WINDOW OPPOSITION LEADER ARSENIY YATSENYUK LEAVING BUILDING MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) OPPOSITION LEADER ARSENIY YATSENYUK SAYING: "This attack is connected with her journalistic work, no doubt about it. Tanya had carr
  • Embargoed: 9th January 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4TUI4Z51UCK4CICVAJ06WCLMG
  • Story Text: Anti-government activists held rally outside the Interior Ministry headquarters in Kiev on Wednesday (December 25) to protest against attack on a journalist known for investigations into corruption amongst senior state officials. In an incident that could reignite anti-government protests in Ukraine, unidentified men brutally beat Tetyana Chornovil, 34.
    She was found on a road outside of Kiev early Wednesday morning, said local police. She was beaten and left in a ditch just hours after publishing an article on the assets of top government officials.

    "This attack is connected with her journalistic work, no doubt about it. Tanya had carried out numerous investigations against state officials. The general prosecutor is holding a meeting of the board now and he said that he takes the investigation of this case under his personal control. I have a dashcam which was in Tanya's car, we found it and it recorded how Tanya was followed, how they tried to stop her and practically this is the main evidence which could help to find the attackers," said opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk after visiting the prosecutor's office.
    Chornovil told police her car was stopped by a vehicle just after midnight. A group of unidentified men got out and broke the rear window of her car.

    "They then pulled her from the car, beat her and left her in a ditch," police said in a statement.
    Chornovil suffered from concussion, numerous bruises and a broken nose, reported online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda.
    Several hundred protesters gathered outside Ukraine's Interior ministry headquarters to deman an immediate investigation of ther attack.

    "I am ashamed for the country which leadership and president are fighting against a woman. First it was Yulia Vladimirovna (Tymoshenko), now it is Tetyana Chornovil," said Natalya Nefyodova, a protester.

    "This action shows weakness of this leadership, when people cannot present proofs and arguments, they resort to beating, and moreover they beat a woman, a mother, how could they do this?", said Oleh Shaporenko, protest participant.
    The Ukrainian capital Kiev has been gripped by street protests since late November when President Viktor Yanukovich's government refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union.
    Although the number of protesters is declining, political analysts say the growing frustration among those who remain creates a risk of violent clashes.
    Yanukovich has urged police to find those responsible for Chornovil's beating, his office said on Wednesday. Zakharchenko has been appointed head of the criminal investigation.
    Opposition leaders have said that government forces were employing increasingly brutal methods to repress activists who remain encamped on Kiev's Independence Square.
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