August 21, 2000
His Excellency Leonid Kuchma
President of Ukraine
vul. Bankivska 11
Kyiv, Ukraine
Via Fax: 011-380-44-293-7364/291-6161/293-1001
Your Excellency,
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by the recent assault
on Valentina Vasilchenko, a freelance journalist from the city of Cherkassy
who was apparently beaten up in retaliation for a series of articles on
police corruption that she published in the local independent weekly Antenna.
We demand that the attack be investigated immediately and thoroughly,
and the assailants held accountable.
Vasilchenko was assaulted in the stairwell of her apartment building at
around 11:45 a.m. on August 14, local sources reported. Two men in running
gear and sunglasses attacked the journalist from behind, hitting her several
times in the head with a heavy object. The attackers ran away as they
heard Vasilchenko's neighbors coming down the stairs.
Bleeding heavily, the journalist entered her apartment and called the
police, the emergency medical service, and her colleagues at Antenna.
Although Vasilchenko refused to be hospitalized, medical examination revealed
severe skull injuries, concussion, and several bruises on her arms.
According to Vasilchenko and Antenna editor Olga Shvets, the attack
was likely provoked by a series of articles titled "Khristinovka Syndrome"
that appeared in four April issues of the Russian-language Antenna.
The series was based on Vasilchenko's investigation of police corruption
in the town of Khristinovka.
In the April 27 installment, for example, she reported that local police
officers had charged a resident with manslaughter in a killing that they
allegedly committed themselves. Antenna later reported that the
defendant, who denied any involvement in the killing, was brutally beaten
and had to be hospitalized on June 11, a day before he was supposed to
testify in court. On July 19, a defense witness was also assaulted. Vasilchenko
covered both attacks for Antenna.
The police opened an investigation into the attack on Vasilchenko, but
according to Shvets they have not shown much enthusiasm about finding
the perpetrators. Although Vasilchenko and the witnesses gave descriptions
of both attackers, the police produced an artist sketch of only one, claiming
that descriptions of the other suspect were insufficiently detailed. Moreover,
the one sketch that police did produce bears little resemblance to eyewitness
descriptions, according to Shvets.
As a nonpartisan organization of journalists dedicated to defending the
rights of our colleagues around the world, we urge Your Excellency to
ensure that the Cherkassy authorities carry out a complete and honest
investigation of this crime, so that those responsible may be brought
to justice and punished to the full extent of the law. We also call on
your government to ensure that Vasilchenko and all other journalists in
Ukraine may exercise their internationally-recognized right to report
the news without fear of reprisal.
Thank you for your attention to these urgent matters. We await your comments.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper
Executive Director
Send a letter to:
His Excellency Leonid Kuchma
President of Ukraine
vul. Bankivska 11
Kyiv, Ukraine
Via Fax: 011-380-44-293-7364/291-6161/293-1001