Prominent lawyer held in police station “for hooliganism”

The Head of the Public Relations Centre of the Central Department of the MIA in Kyiv has claimed that lawyer and TVi presenter, Tetyana Montyan was detained for petty hooliganism.

He told Telekritika that “an administrative protocol is being drawn up against Montyan on a charge of petty hooliganism  - she expressed herself in an exotic manner as she is capable of”.

Asked about the circumstances, Mr Polishchuk said that according to the police officer on duty, Montyan had not shown any documents and the conversation had begun with two offensive words about the police. The officer claims she behaved inadequately and therefore they set about drawing up an administrative protocol, and that she is now free until the court hearing.

Tetyana Montyan had gone to the police station having received information that her (female) client had been beaten. The Head of the Public Relations Centre said that he had gone to check and, not unexpectedly, he says that there was nothing of the sort. “There were hooligan actions. Representatives of the Kherson police contacted the investigator who issued an instruction to have her brought in by force. They had agreed with this woman that she would herself come to Kherson and give testimony there. I did not see any visible signs that she had been beaten. I advised her to see a forensic medical examination and if there are any marks of beating to record them. Because you also can’t just claim that the police beat police”.

On 21 October in her blog on the site of Ukrainska Pravda Tetyana Montyan stated that she had been detained in a cell of the Podilsky Police Station in Kyiv. She told Telekritika that she had been detained without any explanation after she tried to defend her client. She asserts that the police officers had beaten this woman and dragged her unconscious by the legs along the corridor. Ms Montyan says that she did identify herself as a lawyer.

From information at http://telekritika.ua/news/2010-10-21/56824