UKRAINE: LITTLE PROGRESS IN INVESTIGATION OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 002165

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: LITTLE PROGRESS IN INVESTIGATION OF
ATTACK ON JOURNALIST


Classified By: Political Counselor Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) Summary and Comment: Journalist Artem
Skoropadiskiy, who claimed that an August 13 assault on him
by two assailants was because of a critical story he wrote on
Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetskiy, told PolOff on August 21
that there had been no progress in the police investigation.
Although he admitted there was no proof linking the attack
with Chernovetskiy, he maintained that city hall's angry
reaction to the story implicated the mayor, or someone close
to him. He was grateful for the support he received from
NGOs, the Kyiv journalist's trade union, and from
Chernovetskiy's opponents in the Kyiv City Council, but
doubted that the case would be solved. He was not concerned
about further attacks or more pressure to retract his story
and was undecided if he would pursue a legal fight to push
the investigation forward since he will soon return to his
native Russia - a return he planned before the assault. He
noted that despite this incident, he felt the status of media
freedom in Ukraine was significantly better than in Russia.


2. (C) Comment: The timing of the assault and the city
administration's clear displeasure with Skoropadiskiy's
article give some credence to claims that he was targeted for
his reporting. We have not seen any evidence to link
Chernovetskiy with the attack, but he was accused of using
rough tactics in December 2006 when a group of toughs,
supposedly hired by Chernovetskiy, beat up BYuT members at a
televised Kyiv City Council meeting. Skoropadiskiy did not
seem intimidated by the assault and was encouraged - even a
bit surprised - by the outpouring of interest and support in
his case. We are following up with the Kyiv City Police to
inquire on the status of the investigation. End Summary and
Comment


3. (U) On the evening of August 13, Artem Skoropadiskiy, a
journalist for Kommersant-Ukraina, was attacked by two
unidentified assailants at the entry way to his home.
Skoropadiskiy, a Russian citizen who has been living in Kyiv
since 2005, tried to fight off the attackers. He believes
that his attackers were disoriented in the dark hallway and
therefore, were only able to land a few punches to his face
before running off. Skoropadiskiy reported that the
attackers did not try to rob him and that they did not utter
a word. By the time he met with PolOff, a week after the
attack, the bruises on his face from the attack had nearly
faded away.


4. (U) The assault took place the same evening that
representatives from the mayor's office reportedly threatened
the newspaper with libel charges and demanded that it retract
Skoropadiskiy's article. The article in question had
described a meeting between Chernovetskiy and a group of
souvenir vendors; Chernovetskiy's administration had been
seeking to close down the vendor's stalls at Kyiv's central
Independence Square. Skoropadiskiy, who sat in on the
closed-door session, reported that Chernovetskiy made several
rude comments. Following release of the article,
Kommersant-Ukraina reported that city hall told its editor
that the report distorted what Chernovetskiy said during the
meeting.


5. (C) Skoropadiskiy told PolOff that local police arrived
twenty minutes after he reported the assault. He submitted a
written complaint to the police that evening and was
contacted by a police investigator three days later but had
heard nothing since. Skoropadiskiy complained that the
investigation had stalled and he doubted that the case would
be resolved.


6. (C) Skoropadiskiy seemed pleased with the support he
received after the attacks. The Kyiv Independent Media Trade
Union, in a written statement, demanded that the beating be
thoroughly investigated, and agreed that the pressure exerted
by the city administration regarding his article gave grounds
to link the assault with Skoropadiskiy's article. He was
contacted by a local NGO that offered to publicize his case
as a human rights violation, and Paris-based Reporters
Without Borders promised to write a letter of inquiry to
Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office. He received an offer
of legal support from the Vitaly Klitschko faction on the
Kyiv City Council but he was undecided if he would take them
up on it since it would require returning to Ukraine from
Russia to attend hearings. He said that he did not feel
threatened with further violence and noted that the
environment for media in Ukraine was freer than in Russia -
especially since the Orange Revolution. He wryly added that
in Ukraine, he was beaten up for offending the mayor, but in
Russia his article would never have been published at all.


KYIV 00002165 002 OF 002



7. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev.
Taylor