RFE/RL's Tony Wesolowsky has been taking a closer look at the mayhem that erupted in a Kyiv court yesterday:
A day in court for Ukrainian businessman-turned-politician Hennadiy Korban descended into chaos after thugs barged into the courtroom in Kyiv and began randomly beating those in attendance.
In a video uploaded to the Internet by Korban's UKROP party, young men, many wearing hoodies and other athletic attire, can be seen storming into the cramped quarters of the courtroom at the Dnipro District Court on December 27, amid screams of protest, mainly from the women present.
According to the Ukrainian news agency, UNIAN, whose correspondent was beaten, police did little to stop them.
As Korban supporters tussled with the troublemakers, a fire extinguisher went off repeatedly.
Korban was in the court at the time of the fracas, transferred from a hospital in the Ukrainian capital where he is receiving treatment. Earlier this month, Korban was diagnosed with coronary artery disease.
According to UNIAN, his doctors were blocked from attending to Korban, who reportedly fainted during the melee.
Read the entire article here
A Kyiv court changed Hennadiy Korban’s measure of restraint from house arrest to a two-month detention in a Kyiv jail until 25 February 2016.
Judge Mykola Chaus read the decree as Korban’s lawyers and supporters shouted “Shame!”
Korban urged his supporters to remain calm and expressed hope that the Court of Appeal would cancel the decision.
Korban’s lawyers will appeal the decision. They say it was prepared a few days in advance pointing to its inclusion of the names of lawyers who Korban has dismissed. The document also does not include the name of Korban’s public defender.
The court has been in session since the morning of December 26. Korban’s defense argued that he needed to be hospitalized because of heart problems.
Another sign that things are hotting up in the Donbas?
In today's Daily Vertical, Brian Whitmore also gives us his take on the recent uptick in violence in eastern Ukraine:
The increased number of flash points on today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone (courtesy of Ukraine's Defense Ministry) reflects how things have been heating up there recently (CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE):
Decent little photo essay here: