GLASNOST DEFENSE FOUNDATION'S DIGEST No. 173 (March 9, 2004)

Ukraine - Autonomous Crimean Republic. ORT and Inter TV crews assaulted.

By Mark Agatov
GDF staff correspondent in Ukraine

Two TV crews - one of Russia's ORT television channel, the other of Ukraine's Inter TV company - were assaulted near the village of Simeiz on the southern shore of the Crimean Peninsula on February 5, Inter cameraman Yuri Pershikov has told GDF.

According to him, the TV reporters arrived at Simeiz to shoot a story about land conflicts in the Southern Crimea. While the cameramen filmed workers who were erecting fences around the local aqua park and tearing down log cabins built by Crimean Tatars on illegally seized land plots, about 15 Crimean Tatars, clubs and metal rods in hand, appeared and, demanding "Who's the boss here?", clamped down on the workers.

Seeing that the cameramen continued shooting, the attackers switched to the TV crew members, giving blows with the clubs and rods right and left. They then attempted to tear the video cassette from ORT cameraman Vadim Telichev's camera. When the attempt failed, they broke the camera.

According to the journalists, the attackers were well organized, obeyed their leader, and ceased beating the victims as soon as a member of the regional Medjlis (parliament) said it was enough. Yuri Pershikov believes the Tatars participating in the act of violence were residents of the settlement that had appeared in the vicinity of the aqua park after an illegal seizure of land there.

Mr. Pershikov said the attack proceeded before the eyes of policemen who preferred not to interfere. As the journalists were passing by the police bus, one of the police officers wearing a captain's shoulder straps demanded that Vadim Telichev stop the shooting - or else the officer would personally break his camera.

The victims went through medical certification in Simferopol and initiated criminal proceedings against the attackers.

In an interview with the GDF reporter, ORT's Vadim Telichev said neither his colleagues nor he had ever expected Crimean Tatars to behave as aggressively as that; he said the TV reporters were fulfilling an editorial assignment in Simeiz. Apart from a number of scull bruises, Mr. Telichev received a severe spinal trauma that keeps him motionless. The doctors say his basilar vertebra may be broken.

The staff correspondents of Russian newspapers and TV channels working in the Crimea are calling on their colleagues in Russia to give relief assistance to the victimized TV journalists and make the fact of the assault known to the Russian public and government leaders.

It is quite possible that the Crimean authorities and extremist elements are resorting to this kind of actions to intimidate the Russian journalists performing their professional duty on the Crimean Peninsula on the eve of presidential elections in Ukraine.