Militia colonel has found another victim?

On 6 November 2004, during the conduction of the all-Ukrainian action «People will not be vanquished» on the central square of Kharkiv, militia colonel E. Zherebtsov, an officer of the Kharkiv City Department of the Ministry of Interior, threatened Yu. Shishkin, a representative of regional headquarters of Viktor Yushchenko, a correspondent of the newspaper «Razom» (journalist’s certificate No. 26K), with physical violence. This happened when Shishkin made a video record of numerous law-enforcers, including the top officers of the city militia, who, for some reasons, stayed on the square not far from the place, where the meeting was held. The correspondent also shoot bus «LAZ» No. 228-38 ХА with an original advertising: «We will change our life for better together – the Party of regions». Yet, militiamen with shields and batons were in this bus.

Moreover, the militia officers tried to meddle in the course of the meeting threatening with closure of the action «because of its agitational character in favor of one of the candidates to presidency».

We want to remind that these actions were beyond the competence of law-enforcing organs. Militia must be outside politics and fulfill only its direct functions concerning the protection of public order.

Kharkiv militiamen more than once inflicted traumas to the adherents of candidate to President’s post V. Yushchenko.

On 21 August veteran of the WW2 Vasiliy Sokolov was beaten in the Dzerzinski district of Kharkiv for distribution of oppositional newspapers.

On 4 October, near the building of the Leninskiy district executive committee, the officers of municipal militia beat Konstantin Kanishev, an empowered person of candidate to President’s post Mikhail Brodskiy.

On 12 October the officers of transport militia (in civilian clothes) beat Yuri Agibalov, who tried to protect the students, who were illegally detained on the square near the central railway station.

On 29 October the officers of the Frunzenskiy district militia station beat Igor Korol, a deputy head of V. Yushchenko’s regional headquarters, an assistant of MP V. Filenko.