Just a bit of background. Protests started in Kiev in November after the President reversed course and signed a trade deal with Russia rather than the EU. For two months the protests have been peaceful, but the government was not for listening. Then in the past week, the government imposed draconian anti-protest laws, which drew thousands out into the street. Three protesters were killed and the clashes with police turned violent this week. Protesters have been reported to have been “disappeared” from hospitals. Journalists have been attacked, and media have had their offices broken into by police. The protests have spread to several cities beyond Kiev.
This man was at a protest and went to help a protester who had been beaten, and then had this unpleasant encounter with the police.
Via Kyiv Post:
When a thin man dressed in a grey sweater and black pants came into the room Kyiv’s Trade Union house on Jan. 24, everyone fell silent.
All attention was focused on Mykhailo Gavryliuk, a 34-year-old construction worker from Chernivtsi and a EuroMaidan activist. He vaulted to international attention after a leaked video of him being tortured by Ukraine’s riot-control police officers went viral, with two million hits already for the YouTube video.
Officers detained Gavryliuk Jan. 22 on Hrushevskoho Street. After the video surfaced the day, police released him. He returned to EuroMaidan, where he resumted his post as part of a military unit formed by protesters to protect Independence Square from police assault.
His face still covered in bruises, Gavryliuk is nonetheless happy that he didn’t suffer more severe injuries at the hands of the gang of police officers. While in good spirits, his hand still trembles when he recounts how they punished him. “You could see bruises on my body on that video. Now I’d say my body is mostly blue from bruises,” he said.
Gavryliuk says he was trying to take another protester away to safety when several riot police officers circled him and dragged with them. “They were beating me all the time, since the moment they got me,” he said. “Before they actually searched me, they were beating me on the way with some sticks and feet and then decided to check whether I have some presents for them or not, ” Gavryliuk jokes.
The officers undressed their captive, leaving him in socks, while they kept beating him.
Here is the video of some of the police abuse of Gavryliuk. He is covered in bruises from being beaten, as they mock him, kick him and take pictures of him naked in the snow (warning abuse and nudity):