Criminal case opened against former Ukrainian President Kuchma

Criminal case opened against former Ukrainian President Kuchma

2011-03-23 00:51:43 GMT+7 (ICT)

KIEV, UKRAINE (BNO NEWS) -- Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office on Tuesday opened a criminal case against former President Leonid Kuchma over the murder of a journalist over ten years ago.

According to the state-run Ukrinform news agency, former President Kuchma is suspected of being involved in organizing the murder of a journalist in 2000.

"A criminal case has been opened in relation to Leonid Danylovych Kuchma. He is suspected of involvement in illegal actions and the murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze," said Ukrainian First Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin.

Kuchma, the Ukrainian president from 1994 to 2005, was also ordered not to leave the country after a respective resolution was sent to the State Border Service. He is also suspected of abuse of authority.

In September 2010, Ukrainian authorities determined that Oleksiy Pukach, former head of the foreign surveillance department of the Interior Ministry, received orders to kill the journalist.

The alleged verbal order came from former Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko. In a secret tape recording released shortly after the journalist's murder, a voice that is believed to be Kuchma ordered Kravchenko to "deal" with Gongadze.

Ukraine's opposition leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, said that the prosecution against former President Kuchma was a "bluff" and said the case will go nowhere. Tymoshenko is currently facing misuse of government funds and abuse of power charges.

In September 2000, the decapitated body of Gongadze was found in a forest near Kiev. In March 2008, three former employees of the department of foreign surveillance, Valeriy Kostenko, Mykola Protasov and Oleksandr Popovych, were sentenced to terms ranging from 12 to 13 years in prison for their involvement in the case.

Pukach was put on the most wanted list in 2005. He was detained in July 2009 and is currently under custody. Former Minister Kravchenko committed suicide in 2005.

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