Acting Ukrainian Prosecutor General Oleh Makhnitsky has promised to make an objective assessment, without political overtones, of the actions of Svoboda MPs at the National Television Company of Ukraine (NTCU).
“All actions will be objectively assessed. There will be no political overtones. If an offense is committed, all circumstances will be investigated during the investigation of the case, and a legal decision will be made,” he said in Kyiv on Wednesday.
He also added that the Prosecutor General’s Office would also probe the events that preceded the incident, in particular, the channel’s programs that incited ethnic hatred.
Makhnitsky declined to say under which article criminal proceedings on the incident at NTCU would be launched, adding that a respective decision would be taken on Wednesday.
Earlier on Tuesday, MPs from the Svoboda All-Ukrainian Union forced Acting Director of the National Television Company of Ukraine Oleksandr Panteleimoniv to file a letter of resignation.
Footage posted on the Internet shows how MPs forced Panteleimonov to tender his resignation, beating him on the face and the head.
Svoboda MP Ihor Miroshnichenko accused Panteleimonov of constant lies on the channel during pro-EU demonstrations. Then about 20 people pushed Panteleimonov into a SUV and took him in an unknown direction.
According to the Ukrainska Pravda online newspaper, Miroshnichenko explained in a phone call that it had been done for criticism of the Svoboda Party on the television channel.
