The Odessa City Council has twice attempted to shut down a restaurant whose owner assaulted a woman

Rafael Muradyan, the former head of the Consumer Market Development and Consumer Protection Department of the Odessa City Council, stated that he had twice attempted to shut down the "Turquoise" restaurant—where the owner had assaulted a woman after she made a complaint—but the restaurant reopened almost immediately both times.

According to him, both times the establishment was shut down by decision of the executive committee.

"I shut down this establishment twice by decision of the executive committee. Once after numerous complaints from neighbors, and the second time at the request of the city prosecutor’s office following a murder. A person was stabbed to death there. I know everything about this establishment and could tell a lot, but I’ll keep it brief. Immediately after being shut down, “Turquoise” reopened. To my outrage, I was told that the Security Service of Ukraine was covering for the establishment, specifically at the level of the deputy regional head. Later, SBU employees approached me with threats, but I had a “backer” even more powerful—the city mayor,” wrote Rafael Muradyan on his Facebook page.

According to the former official, now, after the apology, the victim will be offered money so that she has no claims against the attacker.

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Rafael Muradyan headed the department during the terms of Odessa mayors Eduard Gurvitsand Oleksiy Kostusev. In February 2012, Mayor Oleksiy Kostusev dismissed him from this position, which he had held since 2008. 

Meanwhile, Andriy Babenko, a member of the Odesa Regional Council, stated that he also wanted to speak with the man appearing in the video, but he was not present, so the council member had to speak with an authorized representative. The man allegedly claimed that she had bitten him.

Earlier, the incident that occurred on June 13 on Deribasovskaya Street in central Odessa—which the police described as a conflict between a local resident and the director of the establishment—had a follow-up.

On June 14, the police reported that they had opened two criminal cases based on statements from both parties to the conflict. According to police, the conflict between the local resident and the restaurant director arose over a remark the 68-year-old woman made to workers who were performing repair work near the restaurant.

Кирило Бойко