A crime mislaid?
The Kyiv Prosecutor has terminated the criminal investigation against Oleh Kalashnikov. The investigation was initiated after an incident in July 2006 between an STB television camera crew and National Deputy from the Party of the Regions Oleh Kalashnikov.
The Prosecutors decision was passed to Ukrainska Pravda by the camera man who suffered bodily injuries during the incident Volodymyr Novosad. It reads:
“I would inform you that the investigation unit of the Kyiv prosecutors office has terminated the proceedings into the case in which you were declared victim for lack of elements of a crime.”
Novosad, however, says that the investigation was biased.
“I saw that the investigator who was running our case had a biased attitude. There were cases when he refused to add testimony from those witnesses who confirmed our version of the incident. From that I concluded that he wanted to terminate the case as soon as possible”.
The decision is dated 10 April 2008, however Novosad only received it on 19 May.
On 12 July 2006 a group of people from the Party of the Regions, including Kalashnikov, obstructed the work of a television team from STB outside the Verkhovna Rada.
They forcibly removed a video cassette and the journalists were beaten. On 14 July the Pechersky District Prosecutors Office initiated a criminal investigation over obstruction of journalists legitimate professional activities.
We posted a lot of information about this case which aroused anger and solidarity among journalists and others. It is to be helped that this will continue now.
From information at www.pravda.com.ua