The protests carried out by this movement were triggered by the release of a tape that directly incriminated Kuchma in Gongadze’s kidnapping. While Kuchma vehemently denied the authenticity of the tape, the scandal over former Kuchma bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko’s tapes fueled moral outrage that culminated in the 2004 Orange Revolution.
Even though President Viktor Yushchenko pledged to bring the perpetrators of the Gongadze murder to justice, and Ukrainian courts indicted Kuchma in connection with his death in 2011, the case remains unresolved 15 years later. If President Petro Poroshenko is serious about combatting corruption and punishing past human rights abuses in Ukraine, the Gongadze case needs to be re-opened as soon as possible.
Poroshenko must build on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s recent recommendations and publicly show support for a trial of high ex-officials suspected of ordering Gongadze’s murder. A successful resolution of the Gongadze case would greatly enhance confidence in the Ukrainian justice system and underscore Ukraine’s commitment to upholding press freedom.
A murder trial would improve the public’s confidence in Ukraine’s judicial system.
Even though the International Federation of Journalists established the Gongadze inquiry in November 2003 to investigate the Kuchma regime’s role in Gongadze’s murder, no high officials implicated on the Melnychenko tapes have been tried. This lack of resolution was a product of vastly contradictory testimonies, unforeseen events and the politicization of the court system, all factors that have obstructed the pursuit of justice.
One key figure suspected of involvement in the plot to murder Gongadze, Kuchma’s Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko, committed suicide in 2005. Ukraine’s former top deputy prosecutor, Renat Kuzmin, claimed that Kuchma had paid $1 billion to be cleared of the Gongadze murder, but these charges were vehemently denied by Kuchma. Kuchma’s stature as Ukraine’s lead diplomat in the negotiations with Russian-backed separatists has made it politically difficult for him to be tried for his alleged involvement in the murder.
While these problems mean that Poroshenko would face an uphill battle if he were to pursue justice for Gongadze, trying Kuchma and his allies would be a major victory for Ukraine’s anti-corruption campaign.
The many irregularities in the Ukrainian government’s handling of the Gongadze case have been fodder for criticism by court skeptics and press freedom watchdogs alike.
Former police Gen. Oleksiy Pukach was convicted for the murder of Gongadze in 2013, but officials are suspected of harboring Pukach for many years.
Even though Kravchenko was implicated, the possible roles of Melynchenko and ex-Verkhovna Rada speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, a onetime Kuchma chief of staff, remain inadequately investigated.
Poroshenko should announce trials of Kuchma, Melnychenko and Lytvyn to demonstrate his commitment to improving the transparency and fairness of the Ukrainian justice system.
These trials would also remove the aura of impunity around Ukraine’s former presidents and their top aides. It will also create a positive precedent for the trials in absentia of ex-President Viktor Yanukovych and his regime allies.
A Gongadze trial will also improve confidence in freedom of speech in Ukraine.
The 15th anniversary protests of Gongadze’s death and the OSCE’s recommendations for a probe into Gongadze’s murder come at a time when perceptions of press freedom in Ukraine have deteriorated.
Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE’s media freedom representative, recently expressed great concern about the government’s inaction in prosecuting individuals involved in the violent deaths of at least nine journalists since the end of the EuroMaidan Revolution in February 2014.
If Poroshenko initiates a trial of murder suspects in the Gongadze case, it could create a positive precedent that will make Ukrainian prosecutors less reticent about taking on cases relating to murdered journalists.
The 2010 disappearance of Kharkiv-based journalist Vasily Klymentyev highlighted this problem. Priyanka Boghani, in a 2010 article for the Guardian, argued that prosecutors were reluctant to track down suspects because of Klymentyev’s history of criticizing the Ukrainian legal system.
As Yanukovych was not inclined to sponsor probes into violent repression of the independent media, the prosecutors were able to act in their own political interests rather than in the interests of justice. If Poroshenko demonstrates that he is proactive in his commitment to protect Ukraine’s free press, he will be able to influence prosecutors to take legal action, when they would be otherwise disinclined to instigate trials.
The announcement of a trial for Gongadze murder suspects will also counter accusations of authoritarianism in Ukraine emanating from Kremlin-backed media outlets. Sputnik has been fiercely critical of Poroshenko’s controversial blacklist and entry bans for foreign journalists. The media organization also recently described the Kiev authorities as the “First Enemies” of press freedom. The Russian state media has a great deal of influence in the separatist-held regions of Eastern Ukraine, and fears of authoritarianism in Ukraine could undermine the cause of the counter-insurgency in Donetsk.
Western countries have also urged Poroshenko to escalate his crack down on corruption. The outgoing British ambassador to Kyiv, Simon Smith, recently warned that Ukraine risks losing Western support if it does not try to uphold the rule of law.
Accusations from Kuchma’s allies that the infamous cassette was manufactured as part of a foreign conspiracy against the Kuchma regime also do not sit well in the West.
If Poroshenko can transcend the political risks associated with taking on the Gongadze case and let Ukrainian courts carry out a successful trial, he could incentivize Western policymakers to give Ukraine a leap of faith and provide more significant economic assistance.
If Poroshenko answers the concerns of demonstrators in Kyiv and the OSCE by pushing for a full-fledged Gongadze trial involving high-level Kuchma regime officials, it will be a positive litmus test for the Yanukovych trial and future anti-corruption efforts.
Unfortunately, Kuchma’s role as a leading diplomat and the Ukrainian courts’ unwillingness to remove the shroud of impunity around high officials makes such a prospect a distant one at best.
