Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko has been beaten and detained by Turkish police near the Taksim Square in Istanbul. At present, he is in hospital under guard. 

Arkady Babchenko said that he was photographing empty police cars when people in police uniform run up to him, demanded that he must stop photographing and took him by the arms.

“I tried to shake their hands off me,” said Babchenko, adding, “But they took me to a nearby yard and beat me up. They kicked my legs and gave me one very painful kick in the groin. They beat me up so badly that now I cannot walk. At present, I am in hospital, and the police are guarding me.”

The police took Babchenko’s passport and other documents, but left his cell phone to him and allowed him to make calls, the Voice of Russia reported.

“As far as I understand, I am being accused of attacking the police,” the journalist said. “I don’t know what they are going to do with me, whether they will expel me from the country or put me under trial. They said that very soon, they will take me to a department of foreigners’ affairs.”

The Russian consul in Istanbul Nikolay Kuzovenko said that a group of the consulate’s workers went to the police office, where Babchenko was delivered after his arrest, to try to find out the details of the arrest and to help him.

A police officer on duty in the police department of the Taksim district said that the Russian journalist was detained for an attack on the police. He was taken to a hospital “for survey”, because this is the usual routine in similar cases, the policeman added.

Demonstrations against the Gezi Park plan erupted in Istanbul’s Taksim Square over two weeks ago, and soon spread nationwide and turned into antigovernment protests.

Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannon to prevent hundreds of protesters reaching the central Taksim Square, scene of violent protests in which hundreds were wounded.

Anti-government demonstrators wearing handkerchiefs and surgical masks chanted “unite against fascism” and “government resign” as they tried to walk down the street to Taksim, a witness said.

It later spread to 67 cities across the country and turned into clashes between protesters and the police, which have left four people dead, over 5,000 wounded and thousands detained.

The protesters vowed to go ahead with their “struggle” until their demands are met by the government through tangible steps.