Investigators work on three leads of attack on Vadym Komarov

Photo credits: Vadym Komarov's Facebook The investigators are considering three theories of the attack committed against the journalist Vadym Komarov in Cherkassy, among others the theory based on the his professional activity. The deputy head of the Investigative department of national police in Cherkassy region Oleksander Zaporozhets said it at the sitting of Cherkassy regional state administration on June 5th, as to the regional state administration website. "As of today, we had more than seven crime scene examinations within the framework of the proceedings, we supplemented the records with seized information and objects, which could serve as evidence in the case, we interviewed more than 1,200 persons. The probing is currently underway, we processed more than 100 security cameras. At present, we are analyzing them. We got some information from 17 security cameras. Based on its results, several respective examinations are to be held", - he said. As Oleksander Zaporozhets told, there were several leads to be probed in, the first one is related to Komarov’s professional activities, the second one was related to a sudden conflict, and the third one treats assault with a mercenary purpose. The latter was rejected in the course of the investigation, since the victim's belongings and property remained intact. Oleksander Zaporozhets also noted that the experts could not establish yet what was the crime instrument, which caused grave bodily injury to Vadym Komarov. The first deputy head of the region Taras Vysotsky noted that Komarov remained in a grave condition and doctors didn’t make any prognosis. IMI informed, on May 4th, in Cherkassy some unknown persons beat journalist and video blogger Vadym Komarov. He got an open cranio-cerebral trauma and was sent to the hospital. His condition was critical. Initially, the police instituted the criminal proceeding on the grounds of articel121 paragraph 1st (Intentional grievous bodily harm”) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. According to the police, the incident happened around 9 a.m., the journalist was walking in the street, as someone assaulted him, beat him and ran away. The case of robbery is not plausible, as the assaulter took nor money of the injured person, neither his telephone. Then, the case had been re-qualified as a premeditated murderous attempt (article 15 and 115 of the Criminal Code). On May 6th, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today called for an effective investigation into the attempted murder of journalist Vadim Komarov in Cherkasy. “I condemn this very violent attack against journalist Vadim Komarov in Cherkazy that has left him in a coma and barely alive. This is an attempted murder against a local investigative journalist known for his reporting on corruption. This targeted attack is particularly alarming and cannot remain unpunished. The investigation was promptly initiated and I call on the authorities to do their utmost to fully investigate the crime,” Désir stressed. On May 7th, Reporters sans frontiers (RSF) claimed to be appalled by last weekend’s brutal attack on Ukrainian citizen-journalist Vadym Komarov in broad daylight in the centre of Cherkasy, and “called on the authorities to do their utmost to ensure that this murder attempt does not go unpunished”. We note that the authorities lost no time in launching an investigation and we urge them to do everything possible to ensure that this horrific attack does not go unpunished,” said Johann Bihr, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. “Quickly identifying its perpetrator and any instigators is the only way to dispel this murder attempt’s chilling effect.” IMI informed, on September 7th, 2016, in Cherkassy some unknown person fired a shot at Vadym Komarov, but the bullet hit the wall. The police had instituted the criminal proceeding based on the article 269 “Hooliganism act” of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. On July 18, 2017, Vadym Komarov had been beaten by one of employees of a construction company controlled by a elected person of the regional council. The reason would be the journalist was protesting against building up near Dnipro river.