CVU: On the assault of Head of the Kherson Regional Branch of the CVU Dementiy Bily

Dementiy, who had his journalist ID from the newspaper “Vilny Vybir” [“Free Choice”] and who is a member of the Ukrainian Journalist Union, was not allowed by security guards into the hall where the Mayor was giving his report. After the intervention of the Head of the Kherson Regional Administration, Andriy Yatsenko, he was admitted into the hall, yet the guards refused entry to other journalists, as well as deputies from the City Council.

Having entered the hall, Dementiy Bily publicly turned to the Mayor asking him to let all those wishing to hear his report into the hall since the report is intended specifically for voters. After this, two unidentified individuals pushed the Head of the Kherson Regional Branch of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine out of the hall and began inflicting blows to his face. Dementiy Bily is presently in hospital where he has been diagnosed as having hypertonic crisis and may have concussion.

The Committee of Voters of Ukraine considers the actions of these unidentified individuals to be a crime falling under, for example, the articles of the Criminal Code on obstruction of a journalist’s work and inflicting bodily injuries.

CVU calls on the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor to investigate the details of the incident without delay, to establish the identity of the assailants, and also those who instructed them to set upon the journalist, and to bring those responsible to justice.

CVU also calls on the Mayor of Kherson, Volodymyr Saldo to publicly apologize to Dementiy Bily for the incident which occurred at an event organized by the city authorities and to give another report to the city community where all who wish to may attend.

CVU Press Service