"Ukrainski Novyny" called lies police’ comment about their journalist, and demand it to be refuted

The information agency “Ukrainski Novyny” ("Ukrainian News") is troubled by the comment of the press service of the Chief Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs about the circumstances of detainment of their correspondent Dmytro Perepelytsia, and demands to refute this information.

In particular, the agency claims that the vice-head of PR department of Chief Administration of MIA in Kyiv Iryna Levchenko voiced false information - namely, that the journalist's tablet was not taken (according to him, police took it) and had no journalist ID (which journalist says he was not allowed to show during the detainment - only after he was taken in).

 According to the journalist, the tablet was taken from him and given over to a patrol service officer who tried to defend the journalist, and who later returned the tablet (although the journalist had to investigate himself who the officer was and arrange for the meeting with him). Also, the police studied his journalist ID, expressing doubts about its validity, and released him only after 40 minutes of checking the ID by various police officers.

The journalist in question was working at the location of protests of small business owners whose equipment - tents and coffee making machines - was confiscated during a raid earlier, as a part of the mayor's effort to relieve the city of multiple spontaneous points of sale crowding passages and streets. As angry business owners tried to break in and take back their equipment, police had to use force and detain some of them. The journalist was taken along with the protesters.