Anti-government protests in Ukraine were starting to lose some steam.  But the brutal Christmas Eve assault of a muckraking journalist has put the passion back in the demonstrations, as Ukrainians demand the resignation of the interior minister they believe responsible for the beating.

Demonstrators clutched photos of Tetyana Chornovil's badly bruised face, the price the 34-year old paid for investigative reports into the affairs of Ukraine's top officials, whom she has accused of engaging in dubious business practices and whose secret wealth she has exposed.  Hours before she was dragged from her car and beaten, she had published a story about a posh “country manor” which she alleged was being constructed for Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko.

Former boxer and opposition UDAR party leader Vitali Klitschko called on journalists to go on strike in solidarity with Chornovol.

“They are beating journalists and trying to make them shut their mouths.  They are destroying their right to a profession,” he said before asking, “Only cowards and moral freaks are capable of savagely beating a woman at night. Does anyone still have hopes that the authorities will change for the better and hear anyone?”

The opposition says the government is behind the attacks of dozens of opposition leaders and journalists.