You're reading: 20 cases of beating reporters investigated

Nineteen criminal cases over the beatings of reporters covering rallies in Kyiv were opened, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada committee on freedom of speech and information (Batkivschyna faction) Mykola Tomenko said.

“As of today, four more reporters are registering cases and 19 have
been opened. Out of the nineteen, one reporter is Polish and 18 are
local journalists working for the Ukrainian and foreign mass media
outlets,” Tomenko said when speaking at Kyiv’s main square, Maidan, on
Tuesday.

According to Tomenko, reporters have filed statements under the
Criminal Code Article 171 – obstructing professional activities. “It is
of critical significance that officers of the special purpose police
unit Berkut beat them knowing that they were reporters,” he said.