The Kyiv Prosecutor General's Office in Podilsky District has been charged by Kyiv Prosecutor Anatoliy Melnyk to check reports of interference in the work of a journalist and an injury to a representative of the Reporters Without Borders international non-governmental organization Oksana Romaniuk, the press service of the capital prosecutor general's office has reported.
According to it, on Feb. 8 the journalist contacted a district prosecutor general’s office to report an assault. The district prosecutor general’s office has also organized a check on the legality of the construction work being done near the building where Romaniuk was assaulted, specifically the installation of kiosks.
Romaniuk said that while filming the illegal construction of a kiosk in Kyiv, which was being protested against by the residents of the district, she was struck in face, the newspaper Telekrytyka has reported.
According to her, the incident happened on the evening of Feb. 7, when unknown persons were installing kiosks near the building at 24 Svoboda Avenue in Kyiv. The builders set up kiosks near the building, cutting down trees and attempted to place kiosks on children’s playgrounds and sports areas, the newspaper wrote. Some citizens protested against the building, including Romaniuk, who asked the builders to show her their building permits. After that, a fight started.
"I was videoing them on my mobile phone to place this information in the mass media and social networks. I said that I was a journalist, but I had no press card with me. The builders hampered me in all possible ways, blocked the cameras, snatched my mobile phone, pushed me and finally I was hit in the face by a fist," she said.
Romaniuk then complained to police. Kyiv police have started pre-investigatory checks into the alleged assault on Romaniuk.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko has said he will take the investigation into the reasons and circumstances of the assault on Romaniuk under his personal control.
According to the head of the public liaisons department at the Interior Ministry, Volodymyr Polischuk, the person that assaulted the journalist has been identified.
