Message of informational agency «Ukrainski novyny»
The Lugansk regional department of the Ministry of Interior denies the fact of beating of the adherents of V. Yushchenko’s bloc «Our Ukraine» by strangers at a meeting. This information was obtained from the press service of the regional militia department.
The press service communicated that on 29 November at 13:15 a meeting in support of V. Yanukovich was held near T. Shevchenko’s monument; about 300 students with the white-blue symbolics took part in this action. The participants of the action scanned slogans and sang songs in support of their candidate.
The press service affirms that about 13:30 about 15 persons from the group of people with orange symbolics, armed with baseball bats and metal rods, attacked Yanukovich’s supporters and started to beat them. «All this lasted for about two minutes. After that the attackers ran away», reads the message of the press service.
The militia also has doubts as to the attack of 30 unknown bandits in leather jackets, armed with hammers, on Yushchenko’s adherents, as the result of which several tens of people suffered. «As to the scores of suffered journalists, including correspondent of the newspaper «Luganchane», volunteers, coordinators of the OSCE project and others, who allegedly got injuries, nobody of them turned to militia», reads the statement of the press service.
The press service informs that the law-enforcers suffered, who protected citizens; one of the militia officers was hospitalized. The militia started the criminal case after part 2 of Article 296 of the Criminal Code (hooliganism).
At the same time, an eyewitnesses testify, that the militiamen, which were present at the place of incident, did not try to stop the beating of Yushchenko’s supporters. According to the information communicated by the agency, the group of 30 bandits attacked, at this meeting, the column of Yushchenko’s supporters consisting of 70 persons and started to beat them. At that a journalist of the informational agency «Ukrainski novyny», a correspondent of the newspaper «Luganschane» and the coordinator of the OSCE projects in the Lugansk region were brutally beaten. Silve Rossel, a volunteer of John Govard’s society (Canada) got a serious cerebral-brain trauma and even had to undergo a surgical operation.
The bandits encircled Yushchenko’s adherents and started to beat them, taking away the cell phones, video cameras and other equipment. Only the victims, who had been already deprived of the equipment, were allowed to leave the column.
The attackers kicked the journalists, beat them on heads with hammers and other heavy things. By the words of witnesses, several scores of persons got traumas. Besides, two workers of Yushchenko’s headquarters in the Lugansk region were beaten, in particular, Evhen Savchenko’s nose was broken.