Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is concerned about numerous attacks on public activists.
“Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko shares the concern of the participants in the “Silence Kills” campaign with numerous attacks on activists,” the presidential administration’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine on Sept. 27.
The message notes that Poroshenko “is not satisfied with the general criminal situation in the country and demands that the coordination meeting on combating crime consider this issue and is awaiting an appropriate report.”
The press service recalls that the president on Sept. 24 called the chief doctor of the Odesa City Clinical Hospital and inquired about the state of health of the public activist Oleh Mykhailyk.
“Acting within his constitutional powers, the head of state heard information from Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko and Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and set them the task of investigating attacks on citizens with an active lifestyle,” the report says.
As earlier reported, on Sept. 22 unidentified persons attacked the activist, who heads “The Strength of People” organization in Odesa. Mykhailyk was hospitalized at the Yevreiska Hospital (Jewish Hospital) in Odesa.
Police have opened a criminal case under Article 15 and Article 115 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code (premeditated murder). The investigation does not name the main version of the crime. All versions are being considered – from domestic homicide to those that may be related to the public activities of Mykhailyk.
On Sept. 25, law enforcement officers detained three people suspected of attempting to kill Mykhailyk. Law enforcers found that men aged 33, 35 and 41 years are foreigners and have been living in the territory of Ukraine for a long time on the basis of temporary certificates of residence.
