Murder of a muckraking journalist
The 2000 kidnapping and murder of muckraking journalist Georgiy Gongadze resonated throughout Ukrainian society and the world. Ukraine’s ability to solve the case became a litmus test for the strength of its democratic institutions – an exam the nation has so far failed.
Eight years later, three former police officers are behind bars, convicted of abducting and killing Gongadze. But they are seen as the fall guys. Those responsible for ordering the crime remain unidentified, while a police general remains wanted on suspicion of organizing the kidnapping and murder.
Founder of the Ukrainska Pravda online newspaper known for its investigative reporting, Gongadze exposed fraud and corruption within ruling circles. He publicly posed hard-hitting questions to leading politicians, including President Leonid Kuchma.
Gongadze disappeared late on Sept. 16, 2000, on his way home. In July of that year, he wrote to Ukraine’s prosecutor general, complaining of harassment and intimidation by police. His beheaded corpse was found 75 kilometers south of Kyiv that November.
Another journalist, Ihor Alexandrov, was also killed during the lawless Kuchma era. Alexandrov was attacked and beaten to death on July 7, 2001, for his investigative reporting on local corruption. He was general director of TOR TV company in the Donetsk Oblast city of Slavyansk.
What made Gongadze’s case unique was that, a month after the journalist’s disappearance, audio recordings were made public by then-opposition leader Oleksandr Moroz, in which Kuchma allegedly called for Gongadze to be hushed up.
The transcripts of these and other conversations, allegedly recorded by presidential bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko, were widely distributed. The events inspired a grassroots movement called “Ukraine without Kuchma” and helped spark a strong and united opposition. Ukrainians took to the streets in the biggest display of public discontent since anti-Soviet protests led to independence. The peaceful protests were marred by violence and arrests in March 2001. Kuchma became a pariah in the West, but found support and solace among former Soviet republics, most notably Russia.
On the recordings, Kuchma is allegedly heard telling subordinates to “throw Gongadze to the Chechens.” Other voices were said to belong to Volodymyr Lytvyn, head of the presidential administration, Leonid Derkach, who then headed the State Security Service, known as the SBU, and Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko. Kravchenko allegedly committed suicide hours before he was scheduled to testify in the Gongadze case in March 2005. On March 15 of this year, three men accused of physically killing the journalist were sentenced to 12 and 13 years in prison by the Kyiv Appellate Court.
Mykola Protasov, Valeriy Kostenko and Oleksandr Popovych were convicted of abducting Gongadze under the guise of a taxi pickup. During the trial, the defendants claimed they were only following orders from police General Oleksiy Pukach, who reportedly strangled Gongadze. Pukach was arrested, released from custody twice and fled the country in 2004. With Kravchenko and Pukach out of the picture, crucial links to the people who organized and ordered the crime are missing.In August 2008, Moroz, the man who first blew the whistle on Gongadze’s murder, told a journalist that he didn’t think Kuchma was responsible. “Kuchma’s [emotional] complexes were used: his hot temper and lack of restraint. His statements were twisted and used very well. I do not think he had anything to do with the journalist’s death,” Moroz said, a few days before Kuchma’s lavish 70th birthday celebration.
