Larysa Golnyk, a judge of Poltava’s Oktryabrsky District Court, was attacked and beaten by unknown men as she was leaving the court building on Nov. 22.
Golnyk is known for blowing a whistle on Poltava Mayor Oleksandr Mamai allegedly trying to bribe her to close a corruption case against him in 2016.
Golnyk said that several men attacked her and her husband Ihor Havrylenko around 5:20 p.m. as they were heading home.
“The attackers were hiding in the bushes,” says Golnik. “They jumped out of the bushes and started to beat me with rubber canes.”
Golnik and her husband fought back and the assailants ran away. Golnyk got a head injury. She is convinced that if it wasn’t for her husband the attackers would have killed her. Police opened the investigation, although Golnik says they were slow to react.
“The police came 40 minutes after the incident,” says Golnyk. “If they came faster, they would have had more chances to catch the attackers.”
Golnik is convinced that she was attacked because of her work as a judge.
Golnik made headlines in May 2016 when she published a video featuring Poltava Mayor Mamai and his former deputy DmytroTrikhna unsuccessfully trying to bribe her.
After that, Golnyk got suspended and said that Oleksandr Strukov, the chairman of her court, pressured her, which Strukov denies.
The Council of Judges of Ukraine denounced Strukov’s actions. However, he still chairs the Oktyabrsky Court.
