Spate of attacks on activists after media investigate corruption cases

BUCHA, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine – Not only is journalism considered a hazardous occupation in Ukraine, anti-corruption activists who help reporters break stories also are in peril.

Korupciya.world reporting by Kyiv Post

In the last six months, at least three activists have been attacked after helping journalists uncover graft in their local communities. Two were beaten up, including one attacked on the same day a TV program aired an interview with him. The third had a rock smash through his bedroom window after talking to journalists – even before the news was published.

Law breakers are usually afraid to commit the high-profile crime of attacking journalists, so they try to intimidate local activists, said Viktor Barkholenko, a former local councilman in Kyiv Oblast, who has been fighting the illegal sale of government-owned forestland for the last ten years.

On Jan. 23 Barkholenko spoke to reporters from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on how high-ranking officials and their families acquire forestland in Bucha. That same night, “my house was attacked – a window was broken with stones,” he told the Kyiv Post. “I called the police but have not filed an official complaint as I know it will bring no result.”

The decision not to file a police report stemmed from Barkholenko’s experience with a police investigation that go nowhere after he was beaten in 2008 after showing reporters corruption schemes in forestry.

The first deputy police investigator in Irpin district of Kyiv Oblast where Barkholenko lives, Anatoliy Shugaliya, said he would not consider a broken window a criminal violation.

Residing in neighboring Bucha, Oleksandr Kulibabchuk is the head of a housing cooperative located next to an area that is part of 890 hectares of disputed woodland that the courts on July 29 returned to public ownership. But the wooded areas’ now former owners continued cutting it down, the Kyiv Post learned from his wife.

He was attacked next to his apartment on July 23 – but not for defending the disputed woodland.

He was beaten on the same day that a Radio Liberty investigation aired regarding a real estate portfolio of 67 apartments that belonged to Irpin mayor Volodymyr Karplyuk.

In the program, Kulibabchuk’s spouse, Nataliya Rostova, was filmed assisting the journalists.

“They attacked silently, from behind, I didn’t see them. I got hit in the head and immediately lost consciousness,” Kulibabchuk said.

None of his belongings were taken. “These people were trained, and those who hired them also knew whom they wanted to attack and where to find me,” he said.

Karplyuk is affiliated with the construction firm that built Rich Town, the housing cooperative that Kulibabchuk runs. The mayor also owned 38 apartments in the cooperative and still has sole ownership of key housing infrastructure – utility rooms with plumbing and electricity equipment – even though it’s supposed to be owned collectively by the apartment owners, according to Kulibabchuk.

This is where the dispute originated. Earlier this month, men with athletic builds entered and blocked the infrastructure, without providing any explanation, and wouldn’t identify themselves until the police arrived.

“I think it (the attack on me) is connected with the visit of the sportsmen – I didn’t react to intimidation. So they decided to influence me this way,” Kulibabchuk said.

Karplyuk denies any involvement in the incident.

“I haven’t had any conflicts with Kulibabchuk, although it is known that he had conflicts with many residents of the (residential) complex,” Karplyuk told the Kyiv Post. “The police should immediately find those who had a fight with Kulibabchuk, and they should be punished.”

A pre-trial investigation is underway, first deputy police investigator Shugaliya, who is responsible for the case, told the Kyiv Post. He refused to give further details.

Another victim wears many hats. Oleksandr Nikolaychuk is an aide to pro-presidential lawmaker Boryslav Rozenblat, a journalist, and has a seat on the council of Olevsk in Zhytomyr oblast.

He was attacked on July 10 on his way home from a Zhytomyr Oblast council meeting on illegal amber mining activity in the region. Amber, used to make expensive jewelry, is mined in forested areas of Zhytomyr, Rivne and Volyn oblasts by illegal groups and has made headlines in the past several months.

The attack by three men came some two weeks after Nikolaychuk assisted and gave nearly a dozen interviews to media outlets, including Radio Liberty, who were gathering material on illegal amber mining.

Apart from sustaining head injuries and a broken hand, Nikolaychuk had a bag of documents and valuables stolen by the three assailants.

“This is for the amber,” he quoted his attackers as saying as they beat him with a steal object and kicked him when he fell.

“I’ve been fighting corruption for three years now and have fallen foul of many officials in the region,” he told the Kyiv Post. “They (the attackers) wanted to injure and intimidate me.”

He said he was offered bribes and threatened many times by local officials and their family members during his graft-fighting inquiries. His assailants could have been connected directly with amber smugglers or also with law enforcement officials who may be part of the amber operation, according to Nikolaychuk.

Alla Vashchenko, the interior ministry spokeswoman for Zhytomyr Oblast, said that the three suspects were detained on July 20 and that an investigation is underway on hooliganism and preventing a journalist and councilman from carrying out their duties.

The case was later re-classified to assault and prevention of journalism activities.

The authorities arrested three suspects in the case, two of whom Nikolaychuk recognized.

He added that the issue went public immediately, and even President Petro Poroshenko got involved — giving an order for the attackers to be detained as soon as possible.

“The suspects are 21-22 years old, unemployed and allegedly making their living by criminal activities,” Vashchenko told the Kyiv Post. The court allowed bail to be set for the three of them at Hr 97,000, Hr 30,000 and Hr 25,000, respectively.

The lowest bail amount was paid.