Images of a Ukrainian activist journalist who was severely beaten in the early Wednesday morning prompted two days of protests in the capital Kyiv and international condemnation.
The attack on 34-year-old Tetyana Chornovol happened as she was driving home at about 1:30 a.m. local time and came just hours after she published pictures online of a swanky home that allegedly belongs to Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko.
According to the English-language Kyiv Post Chornolov’s vehicle was “blocked” by an SUV and as she tried to turn around her car was forced to the side off the road.
“After she stopped the car, the men dragged Chornovol out and savagely beat her. After that, the men left Chornovol in the car and pushed it into a roadside ditch,” the Kyiv Post reported.
Police were reportedly alerted about her car and found the battered woman lying in the ditch.
Deutsche Welle reported a camera mounted in Chornovol’s car, that may have captured the SUV, had been removed by her attackers. But unverified footage, said to be from the camera, appeared in a BBC report.
Photos and video of Chornovol being treated in the hospital show her swollen and bruised face still covered in blood.
WARNING: The video below contains graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised
She may require at least three operations, an opposition Member of Parliament told a Ukrainian website.
The attack has angered anti-government protesters who for weeks have been staging mass demonstrations in Kyiv, in opposition to President Viktor Yanukovych strengthening connections with Russia, the country’s former Soviet ruler, while backing away from ties to the European Union.
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Chornovol, who is said to have been involved in anti-government protests, has previously reported on corruption and the alleged lavish lifestyles of government officials, including President Yanukovych.
In response to the attack on Chornovol a crowd of protesters gathered outside the Interior Ministry on Wednesday and Thursday, with some demonstrators holding pictures of her beaten face.
“I came here first of all because I am a journalist. It is a shame that we have such trouble with freedom, with freedom of speech in our country,” demonstrator and journalist. Georgii Luk’yanchuk told The Associated Press. “Such horrible things are happening. For example, what happened to Tetyana Chornovil and other journalists who show the truth, what is happening right now in Ukraine.”
The attack has been condemned by opposition politicians and from international missions in the country.
U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Pratt Geoffrey Pyatt condemned Chornovol’s beating on Twitter.
There was also calls for justice from imprisoned former Prime Ministers Yuliya Tymoshenko also spoke out about the attack.
“Today they nearly killed Tanya Chornovil and this should be the last drop of blood, the last manifestation of cruelty towards our people which we have all allowed through our inaction,” Tymoshenko said in a statement on Wednesday.
Yanukovych also issued a statement on Wednesday condemning the attack and called on Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonk and Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko to investigate the beating, Kyiv Post reported.
According to the Kyiv Post, three arrests had been made in the case by Thursday night.
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