Police ‘Beat a Man to Death in Mykolaiv Oblast’

On the night between August 23 and August 24, police officers in Kryve Ozero in Mykolaiv oblast beat a young man to death, local news outlet Novosti-N reports, saying that the details of the incident are not clear.

"According to the preliminary information, the incident happened at night near the house of the killed man. The man and his wife had a fight. After the fight, he left the house and went to sleep in his car. Before that his wife had called the police. Three police officers arrived, came into the yard, and dragged the man out of his car. They handcuffed him. After that, three more police officers arrived from the district police station. They started beating the man with his wife, mother, and two children watching. He was beaten to death," the media outlet reports.

The killed man was Oleksandr Tzukerman (31). He is said to have come from a middle class family and had not been known to have a drinking problem or exhibit violent behavior. According to the reports, about 200 locals gathered near his house, outraged with what had happened. They would not let the police take the body to Pervomaisk for an autopsy "because all police in Pervomaisk are corrupt."

Later all six police officers who took part in the incident were arrested. It was decided to transfer them to Mykolaiv. However, several hundred Kryve Ozero citizens gathered near the city’s prosecutor’s office in protest against the murder suspects.

When the arrested police officers were convoyed out of the building, people from the crowd attacked them despite the police cordons. This resulted in minor injuries for some of the six arrested officers. When they were already in the paddywagon, the crowd started shaking the vehicle and almost turned it over.

As a result of the clashes, several police officers from the cordon also received minor injuries.

People went to the district police office and demanded that the police chief come out to talk to them. According to the reports, "[Some people] are calling to storm the building. People are saying this might be ‘the second Vradiivka’."

Deputy Head of the National Police Artur Hasparov and the Deputy Prosecutor of Mykolaiv oblast were on site to talk to the people.

At the same time, Mykolaiv oblast police have a completely different version of the events. The oblast police press service reports that at about 3am on August 24 a local taxi driver (46) filed a statement to the police that a man beat him and took his personal belongings and money when he arrived on a call to the man’s house.

At about the same time, police received a call that the same perpetrator is acting unlawfully in his house. The officers confirmed this on arrival. The wife of the perpetrator was reportedly begging for protection and help.

It is reported that the police officers made attempts to calm the man, but he continued to resist. "Taking into account the level of public danger and in order to ensure public safety, the officers applied physical restraint and handcuffs. The officers called an ambulance, but when they doctors arrived they pronounced the owner of the house dead," the statement says.

The investigation is ongoing and the police officers in question have been suspended.

Source: Ukrayinska Pravda