KYIV -- A man suspected of beating the journalists Olha Snitsarchuk and Vladyslav Sodel in Kyiv on May 18 has been arrested.

Lawmakers asked Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko to brief them on the incident.

Zakharchenko told parliament on May 21 that the suspect, Vadym Titushko, has been charged with hooliganism. The minister indicated that the authorities are looking for other suspects.

"I can personally assure Olha Yuriyevna [Snitsarchuk] that law enforcement will do everything in their power to restore your constitutional rights and will bring those responsible to justice," he said.

On May 18, a group of athletic men in tracksuits attacked demonstrators during the "Get Up, Ukraine!" opposition rally in Kyiv. Several activists were injured, including the two journalists.

Snitsarchuk, a correspondent for the Kyiv-based Channel Five television company, told RFE/RL that only her husband, a correspondent for the Russian "Kommersant" newspaper, Vladyslav Sodel, saved her from receiving an even more severe beating.

"I had everything filmed on my phone," she said. "They came and started to pour water on us and spit on us, everything was done with swearing. Eventually we were knocked to the ground. I was hit on the hand, the phone shattered into pieces.  My husband covered me, but I was hit several times in the face and stomach."

Dozens of journalists protested in Kyiv on May 20, demanding that the attackers be brought to justice. Journalists, who helped to identify Titushko as one of the assailants say that he has been seen before at pro-government events.

Titushko placed a video on the Internet on May 20 saying that he had nothing to do with the beatings.

However, journalists published several pictures taken from the May 17 gathering where Titushko is seen attacking people.

PHOTO GALLERY: Journalists Attacked In Kyiv

Snitsarchuk maintained that police standing nearby did nothing to help her when she was attacked.

"Since the police simply stood by and observed everything, there was an impression that everything was done under their protection."

Opposition lawmakers demanded explanations regarding police reluctance to interfere with the beatings.

However, Zakharchenko told lawmakers that the police had acted professionally.

"I would like to emphasize that during such public events, where many citizens of opposing political views take part, the police in general have worked adequately, according to the powers granted by law," he said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists and Freedom House have condemned the attack and urged Ukrainian authorities to investigate the situation.

TBILISI -- Four men have been arrested in Georgia in connection with the violence last week that disrupted a planned gay rights demonstration in Tbilisi.

Georgia's Interior Ministry said on May 21 that the four have been charged with petty hooliganism and disobeying police.

Thousands of antigay activists attacked dozens of people preparing to mark International Day Against Homophobia on May 17.

ALSO READ: Antigay Protesters Disrupt Georgian Rally

After the antigay activists broke through their cordon, police helped the gay-rights supporters escape the area.

At least 17 people were injured.

A day before the rally, the head of Georgia's Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, called on authorities to ban it, saying the event would be "an insult" to Georgian tradition.

The European Union office in Tbilisi said it "was dismayed by the scenes of brutal intolerance and violence."

Based on reporting by civil.ge and apsny.ge

PERM, Russia -- Jailed Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina has had one of two prison reprimands dismissed.

Her appeal was heard in a Perm Oblast Court.

Since receiving a two-year jail sentence for hooliganism over an anti-Putin stunt in an Orthodox church in the capital, Alyokhina has received four reprimands for violating the penitentiary's internal rules.

Two of the reprimands were dismissed in court earlier this year.

Reprimands could prevent her possible early release on parole.

A parole hearing is scheduled for May 22.

Alyokhina and another Pussy Riot member, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, are serving similar two-year jail sentences.

They were arrested in February 2012 after performing what they called a "punk prayer" against President Vladimir Putin at the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow.

The jail sentences were widely criticized by the United States, the European Union, and many top entertainers.

BAKU -- Azerbaijani scholar Khalida Khalid* and her driver have been released following nearly three weeks in Iranian custody after their detention at the home of an ethnic Azeri activist.

Azerbaijani lawmaker Eldar Ibrahimov, who is currently in Iran, told RFE/RL that the two Azerbaijani nationals were freed on May 19.

Iran's ambassador in Baku also confirmed that information.

Azerbaijan's consulate in Tabriz has been demanding the release of Khalid and her driver since their April 30 arrest in that city, along with four Iranian activists of Azerbaijani origin.

Relations between Baku and Tehran have been strained in recent months, and Iranian authorities are wary of ethnically charged grievances in the region.

Last year, two Azerbaijani citizens were arrested in Tabriz and held for several months for allegedly promoting separatism in the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan arrested 22 people last year and accused them of spying for Iran.


*CORRECTED: A previous version of this story incorrectly spelled Ms. Khalid's first and last names, omitting the "k."

With reporting by apa.az

ASHGABAT -- A European Union delegation has raised with Turkmen officials the case of a detained RFE/RL correspondent.

Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said on May 17 that the delegation expressed concern over the detention of Turkmen Service correspondent Rovshen Yazmuhamedov at a meeting on human rights with Turkmen officials in Turkmenistan on May 15.

"We have very specifically expressed concern about the arrest, have asked for details about the reasons for his arrest and whether his family, for example, and lawyers were authorized to visit him, and we will continue to monitor this closely," Kocijancic said.

Yazmuhamedov, 30, was detained on May 6 by police in the northeastern city of Turkmenabat.

Kocijancic said the EU urged Turkmen officials to make a prompt decision on the case.

"As far as I understand, the law-enforcement institutions should make a decision on this case within 10 days, which would mean very shortly," Kocijancic said.

Despite multiple requests to Turkmen authorities, RFE/RL has been unable to obtain any information about Yazmuhamedov's condition.

According to Yazmuhamedov's relatives, the journalist is being held at a detention center run by the Interior Ministry's Directorate No. 6, which investigates organized-crime and terrorism-related cases.

Relatives also told RFE/RL that Yazmuhamedov was interrogated by security services several times recently.

Since 2009, RFE/RL has documented three other incidents involving the confinement and imprisonment of persons associated with its Turkmen Service, or Azatlyk Radiosy as it is known locally.

In October 2011, correspondent Dovletmyrat Yazkuliyev was sentenced to five years in prison on phony charges, several months after security agents interrogated him about his reporting on explosions in the city of Abadan and threatened him with prosecution for "causing national, social, and religious provocations."

Yazkuliyev was later released from prison under a presidential amnesty following an appeal by four U.S. senators, including current U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

BAKU -- A court in Baku has charged a young Facebook activist with hooliganism over a controversial "Harlem Shake" video.

The court also ruled that Ilkin Rustamzade must be kept in pretrial detention for up to two months during the investigation.

Rustamzade's lawyer, Nemat Karimov, told RFE/RL that his client is accused of filming the "Harlem Shake" video in Baku's metro and placing it on the Internet.

The lawyer added that Rustamzade had nothing to do with the video in question.

Rustamzade, an activist with the Azad Ganclik (Free Youth) group, was released from jail on May 15 after serving a 15-day prison term for participation in an unsanctioned "No to Terror" demonstration on April 30.

He was also an organizer of protests against the suspicious deaths of army conscripts earlier this year.

Azerbaijan's parliament has legalized tighter Internet controls in a move the country's opposition groups fear could be used to curb online dissent.

The parliament on voted on May 14 to make online libel and "abuse" criminal offences.

The new law allows for cases of slander deemed to be particularly serious to be punishable by up to three years in jail.

Parliament also agreed on increasing to three months the maximum sentence for so-called "administrative" arrests, under which detained opposition activists have often been held. The previous maximum sentence was 15 days.

Opposition activists typically use social media websites to coordinate their activities.

The international media rights group Committee to Protect Journalists said the new bill, if signed into law, would “rob the public of online news” and urged President Ilham Aliyev to veto it.

Earlier this month, Stefan Fuele, the European Union's Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, expressed concern about proposed moves to curb access to the Internet in the oil-rich nation.

Based on reporting by apa.az and AFP