Landik gets suspended sentence and is released

Protest in July against impunity for Landik and other privileged offspring of people in high places

On Thursday 19 January the Leninsky Court in Luhansk handed down a three year suspended sentence (with a two year probation period) to Roman Landik, son of a Party of the Regions MP and himself a former Luhansk City Council. Landik gained considerable notoriety after he assaulted a young woman who had rejected his advances in a restaurant at the beginning of July 2011. A considerable part of the prolonged attack on Maria Korshunova was filmed by CCTV and circulated on the Internet.

Public outrage led to Landik himself fleeing to Russia, and assurances from those in power that he would be extradited and punished.

The verdict can be appealed, however according to the BBC Ukrainian Service, the victim herself, who was reported before the court case began to have reached an agreement with Landik’s family, has stated that she is satisfied with the sentence. 

Landik’s behaviour throughout the court case was highly specific and confrontational. This also does not appear to have been reflected in the sentence passed on a person who carried out an unprovoked and prolonged attack on a woman and then tried to escape justice.