You're reading: Fifth suspect in Chornovol beating identified, in custody

On Dec. 28, the Kyiv Pechersk District Court ruled to place the fifth suspect involved in the Dec. 25 beating of journalist and civic activist Tetyana Chornovol under police custody, the Interior Ministry reported. 

The same court on Dec. 27 ordered the other four suspects to
be placed behind bars as the police investigation into the visible EuroMaidan
protester’s Dec. 25 beating continues.

Online newsite Ukrainska Pravda says the suspect is Roman
Zaliubovsky of Dniprodzerzhynsk in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Although the police
didn’t identify the fifth suspect, law enforcement said he came to Kyiv to
purchase the Porsche Cayenne sports utility vehicle that was used to
continuously ram and block the path of Chornovol’s car on the highway.

Another suspect, 29-year-old Serhiy Kotenko, said in court
that two men, “Roman and Andriy,” had wanted to buy the Porsche from him, according
to Ukrainska Pravda. Kotenko in turn bought the sports utility vehicle six
months ago from another suspect, Oleksandr Khramstov. But Khramtsov was still
the registered owner of the SUV because Kotenko hadn’t paid him in full yet for
it so he hadn’t transferred the deed to him.

Kotenko’s older brother, Oleksandr Kotenko, is also a suspect,
as is Andriy Nasikovsky whose residence was
visited by Serhiy Kotenko the night of the attack on Chornovol.