The Svoboda Party has reported that Andriy Illienko, a member of parliament in the party's opposition faction has been attacked, along with Svoboda's lawyer Sydir Kizin.
“On Jan. 3, on the threshold of the Shevchenko District Police Station in Kyiv, a dozen unknown perpetrators cynically attacked National Deputy of Ukraine from the Svoboda Party Andriy Illienko and Svoboda’s lawyer Sydir Kizin,” the statement said.
As of the time of the report, the victims were at that same police station, giving their testimony. National deputies Yuriy Syrotiuk and Ruslan Koshulynskyy were also present at the police station.
An ambulance also arrived. It was reported that Illienko is likely to have a broken jaw and a concussion and that Kizin’s face is cut open.
The attack on the Svoboda Party members happened after they came out of the Shevchenko District Police Station, where Illienko had been questioned about events on Jan. 1. Kizin accompanied him as his lawyer.
“Note that only the investigator knew the time of commencement and completion of the questioning. Therefore there are reasonable grounds to believe that it was the police that informed the bandits when the Svoboda Party members were on their way out of the police station,” the Svoboda Party claimed.
“The Svoboda Party considers this attack as a particularly cynical attempt on the life of a statesman. This attack was planned in advance, with thugs and police acting as a coalition,” the statement said.
“About 10 unknown men beat Illienko and Kizin. Passersby rescued them from a probable death. They were taken to the hospital afterwards,” Oleksandr Aronets wrote on his Facebook page.
The member of parliament has confirmed the beating.
“Just recently lawyer Sidor Kizin and I were attacked near the entrance door of the Shevchenko District Police Station in Kyiv. We were beaten by professionals. Currently we are in the police department,” Illienko wrote on his Facebook page.
Original (with photos) in Ukrainian on the Ukrainska Pravda website:
