Anti-corruption activist, campaigner, political advisor
Kateryna Viktorivna Handziuk (Ukrainian: Катерина Вікторівна Гандзюк; 17 June 1985 – 4 November 2018)[2] was a Ukrainian civil rights and anti-corruption activist campaigner and political advisor, who exposed corruption in her hometown of Kherson.[3] She was attacked with sulphuric acid on 31 July 2018, and died from her injuries on 4 November 2018.[4][5]
In 2012, she volunteered for the United Nations Development Programme.[7] She left the “Fatherland” party in 2015.[6] During the Kherson 2015 local elections, Handziuk was an active volunteer who helped the acting mayor of Kherson, Volodymyr Mykolayenko, to win the elections.[6] In November 2016, Handziuk become the acting manager of affairs at Kherson City Council’s executive committee.[6]
Handziuk was a critic of the security authorities and especially condemned corruption in the regional department of Ministry of Internal Affairs. She had publicized the involvement of the police in several cases of corruption.[8]
A man threw sulfuric acid on her in front of her house on 31 July 2018 and fled.[9] She suffered severe burns on more than 30% of her body.[9] The Ukrainian authorities arrested five suspects.[9] The European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood PolicyJohannes Hahn wrote on Twitter: "Attacks on civil society activists are unacceptable. Those responsible for this insidious crime must be held accountable."[10] Handziuk first received treatment at a local hospital but was transferred to a special medical institution in Kyiv soon afterward.[9]
Handziuk died on 4 November 2018.[4][5] The preliminary cause of death was a thrombosis.[11]Ukrainian PresidentPetro Poroshenko confirmed in the evening of the same day the death of Handziuk in a Kyiv hospital. He called on the police to do everything to clarify the case.[12]
After the announcement of her death, there was a spontaneous mourning in the Ukrainian capital, in which hundreds of demonstrators moved to the Ministry of Interior and demanded the complete investigation of the murder.[12]
In June 2023 the former head of the council for Kherson Oblast, Vladyslav Manher, and his assistant, Oleksii Levin, were both found guilty of her murder. They were sentenced to 10 years in prison, and fined ₴15 million ($406,000) as victim compensation to her relatives.[14]