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Ukrainian online editor beaten up for critical articles

By EDRi · March 13, 2013

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: [Ukraine: Online-Redakteur wegen kritischer Artikel angegriffen | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_11.5_Ukraine_Online-Redakteur_wegen_kritischer_Artikel_angegriffen?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20130319]

On 5 March 2013, Taras Chornoivan, chief editor for the Ukrainian news
website Tarasova Pravd, ended up in hospital with serious injuries after
having been attacked and beaten by three unidentified men.

According to Chornoivan’s declarations, the attack was probably due to
the series of articles published by Tarasova Pravda website accusing
Aleksandr Dombrovskiy, a former governor, of vote rigging in the last
parliamentary elections. In January 2013, Ukraine’s Supreme
Administrative Court cancelled Dombrovskiy’s election to the Parliament
after an opposition politician had filed a complaint against him based
on similar accusations of vote rigging. The website launched a print
edition on 4 March, with a mocking photo, showing Dombrovskiy on a
toilet, accompanied by a critical story.

“We are alarmed by this vicious assault against Taras Chornoivan, and
urge regional authorities to bring those responsible to justice. A
thorough, transparent, and effective investigation will demonstrate
authorities’ commitment to free expression and the rule of law,” stated
Muzaffar Suleymanov, Europe and Central Asia Program Research Associate
of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Dombrovskiy’s spokesman denied his involvement in the incident.

Editor of critical website brutally assaulted in Ukraine (8.03.2013)
http://www.ifex.org/ukraine/2013/03/08/assault_editor/

Journalist violently beaten in Vinnytsya (7.03.2013)
http://imi.org.ua/en/news/journalist-violently-beaten-vinnytsya