Hromada People’s Deputy Oleksandr Yeliashkevych, is one of the youngest and most energetic members of Parliament. On February 10, when Den originally carried our interview with him (see page 4), news agencies reported an assault on Mr. Yeliashkevych, Hromada People’s Deputy. It took place near the Moscow Hotel, which houses Deputies. It all happened very quickly. An unidentified person walking past him turned, hit him in the face, and left. Mr. Yeliashkevych reported the incident to a hotel security guard who notified the Starokyivsky district militia precinct.
Oleksandr Yeliashkevych, known for his sharply critical public appearances, told The Day over the phone that “the main purpose” of the assault was to “intimidate me and incapacitate me for a while.” He also stressed that he remained nonaligned in the majority-minority conflict in Parliament, trying to “set a middle course between the irreconcilable sides in Verkhovna Rada.”
When asked by The Day about a committee of inquiry to handle his case, Mr. Yeliashkevych said he did not believe it would accomplish anything, adding that the incident would be blamed on a street tough, although “the fact that it happened in the heart of the capital, close to where Deputies live, and that everything was done in a perfectly professional manner” (i.e., without eyewitnesses, evidence, clues, etc. —Author ) means that what happened was not a random act of street violence against a random visitor to the lawmakers’ hotel.
