Andriy Dzyndzya, journalist from the civic
police watchdog Road Control has been informed that he is suspected of a new
“offence” over an incident a year ago when he spat in the face of a traffic
police inspector, with this supposedly injuring the officer.
As reported, Dzyndzya is currently in detention facing extremely worrying charges
over the Dec 1 disturbances on Bankova St in Kyiv. Although there is
considerable evidence corroborating Dzyndzya’s assertion that he was there in a
journalist capacity, he is accused of involvement in the commandeering of the
bulldozer brought to Bankova St and used in the confrontation with interior
ministry forces. All video footage, as well as reports from reputable NGOs
monitoring the events, suggest that the trouble outside the president’s administration on Dec 1 was deliberately orchestrated, and that those chiefly
responsible were young masked louts. Those arrested, however, were two
journalists, an activist of the AutoMaidan movment, and eight men of different
ages, almost all of whom were badly beaten by Berkut riot police.
The charges against Dzyndzya clearly fall
under the amnesty law which came into force on Dec 25, and his continued
detention is therefore in breach of the law.
If this new charge has been brought in an
attempt to justify his continued imprisonment, the investigators are almost
comically off track.
No mention has yet been made of other
criminal charges which appeared to be hanging over
Dzyndzya last year. This reticence is less
likely to be because the charges are also questionable, and more because the
other Road Control journalist – Andriy Zhukovyen – who was presented with
criminal charges after being assaulted happened to be in the USA at the time.
He decided it was dangerous for him to return to Ukraine and was granted political asylum in November 2013.
Road Control
reports that on Jan 8, Dzyndzya
learned of charges over the “offence” allegedly committed almost a year ago, on
Jan 23, 2011. At 10.30 that day he is accused of having spat in the
face of traffic police inspector Oleksandr Mukha, resulting in the latter being
hospitalized with light injuries.
A forensic medical assessment from the
following day stated that Mukha was found to have an injury “in the form of a
bruise”.
The charge presented on Thursday by senior
inspector B. Yavorsky deserves to be shared in full:
“In this way A. Dzyndzya, through his
deliberate actions reflected in the inflicting of light bodily injuries on a
law enforcement officer who was carrying out his official duties, committed the
crime set out in Article 345 § 2 of the Criminal Code ».
Road Control asserts that the conflict
between Dzyndzya and Mukha arose over the traffic officer’s attempt to
“illegally take a car away to a private car impoundment park” which Road
Control says brings the interior ministry management millions in profit.
According to Road Control, Dzyndzya spat on Mukha, while the latter knocked
Dzyndzya to the ground and hit him several times. The leaders of Road
Control arrived at the scene, together with the Kyiv traffic police management,
and the conflict was resolved, with both men agreeing to waive their claims
against the others. By that evening, however, it was announced that Mukha
had been hospitalized. Road Control claims that the news caused mirth all
around the country and that the traffic police went silent.
There are now conflicting views of this
somewhat specific crime. It is highly likely that Road Control videoed
the incident in question, as it usually does. It is also indisputable
that for almost a year the investigators were silent on the subject.
Until now when the amnesty law has come
into effect and the will to enforce it remains lacking.
Halya Coynash is a member of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group and this article can be found here.
