Crimean Tatar Protesters Attacked In Kyiv
The Crimean Tatars have been engaged in their sit-in for more than three months.
July 30, 2009
KYIV -- A group of Crimean Tatar protesters camped out in front of the Ukrainian government building in Kyiv have been attacked by several dozen young men, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.
Rinat Shaymardanov, a representative of Crimean Tatar advocacy group Avdet, accused police officers nearby of standing idly by while about 30 young men attacked the sleeping protesters and destroyed their posters and signs.
The group has been protesting in front of the government building since mid-April, demanding a system for the gradual privatization of state-owned land in Crimea by the peninsula's indigenous Crimean Tatars.