Lutsenko hospitalized as authorities face political fallout (VIDEO, UPDATE)

The assault
on Lutsenko, one of a small number of Ukrainian politicians known
internationally, drew condemnation in the West and spurred renewed calls by opposition leaders and EuroMaidan activists for
economic and visa sanctions against some Ukrainian officials. The U.S. Senate is considering such options and its Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on Ukraine Jan. 15.

In a video message on Jan. 11, Lutsenko’s fellow opposition leader Vitali Klitschko renewed his call to the West for targeted economic and visa sanctions against Ukrainian officials involved in human rights abuses.

Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko calls on the West to impose sanctions on members of President Viktor Yanukovych’s government.

Lutsenko is
one of more than a dozen people injured in violence triggered by a Jan. 10 guilty
verdict against three men on charges of terrorism for planning to topple a
Vladimir Lenin statue in Boryspil more than two years ago. Their defenders say
the crime never took place, that the statue had already been removed and police
planted evidence to convict the three men of a trumped-up charge. 

A court in
Kyiv’s Sviyatoshinsky district found the trio guilty and sentenced them to six years
in prison – beyond the two years they’ve already spent in pre-trial detention.
The verdicts against Volodymyr
Shpara, Ihor Mosiychuk and Serhiy Bevza triggered the clash between police and
protesters that lasted overnight until 2 a.m. on Jan. 11. 

Lutsenko’s
wife, Iryna Lutsenko, said that she and her husband came to the court late in
the evening on Jan. 10 in an attempt to persuade riot police not to use
violence to disperse demonstrators who were blocking police vans. 

“Yura as a
former interior minister (in charge of law enforcement) got between the people
and the police to prevent bloodshed,” Iryna Lutsenko said. “But instead the
riot police started beating him in the head and blood spurted out. They smashed
his glasses. He fell down on the ground and lost consciousness.” 

Lutsenko was
taken to Borys private hospital in Kyiv. His wife told journalists on Jan. 11 that
her husband suffered a concussion, a wound on the right
frontal area of his head and soft tissue swelling of the right eyebrow and left
frontal areas. She called his condition serious.

 Along with
Lutsenko, at least a dozen more people were injured by police in the clashes,
mostly protesters but also some journalists. Yuriy Syrotiuk, a member of the
opposition Svoboda Party, claims that the police engaged in indiscriminate
attacks – even assaulting random passersby. 

Prosecutors
launched a criminal case. His lawyer, Ihor Fomin, told the Kyiv Post that
Lutsenko will talk to the prosecutors on the incident when he recovers. “It’s clear that the crime is against him but the severity of the crime
should be determined by the court,” Fomin added.  “I know him personally, and I am sure that he
will not even demand any strict penalties for people who caused him injuries as
he understands that (the police officers) were just executing the orders.” 

European Union
and American officials condemned the attack. 

Violence
against demonstrators in Kyiv is very worrying,” Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt wrote on his Twitter account today.
“All must refrain from all violence. Authorities have a particular
responsibility.” 

U.S. Ambassador
in Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt also tweeted that
“violence against EuroMaidan should be condemned. Dialogue and national
consensus can draw a path toward Europe.” He
added that “Lutsenko
will be remembered as hero of EuroMaidan”
for trying to intervene in the confrontation between police and protesters. 

Rebecca Harms, leader of the
Green faction in
the European Parliament, said in an interview with the Deutsche Welle
said that the beating of Lutsenko and attacks on activists and journalists,
including the Dec. 25 beating of journalist Tetyana Chornovol “show that Ukraine authorities
can respond to peaceful protest only with violence.” Harms worries that
more violence will come. 

United Kingdom’s
European minister, David Lidington, expressed shock
and wished Lutsenko a speedy recovery. 

Kyiv Post staff
writer Nataliya Trach can be reached at trach@kyivpost.com.