The Association of European Journalists condemns in the strongest terms the savage and targeted assault on 25 December near Kiev against prominent investigative journalist Tetyana Chornovol. The appalling attack by assailants who targeted the journalist by chasing and forcing her car to a halt left Chornovol with concussion and severe facial injuries. The AEJ insists that the Ukrainian authorities must act urgently to ensure that the perpetrators of this and a series of other violent and brutal assaults against media workers and peaceful protestors in recent weeks are held fully accountable under the law.
The recent pattern of apparently deliberate and extremely violent attacks against journalists carried out by police and by gangs of men apparently under orders to assault and silence critics of the government is wholly unacceptable. The AEJ expresses its extreme concern at the evident failure of the authorities in Ukraine until now to respect their obligations to protect those in Ukraine who exercise their legitimate right of free expression and the freedom of the media to investigate allegations of serious corruption and wrongdoing. Read Kyiv Post article with videos here.