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Georgiy Gongadze (21 May 1969 – 17 September 2000) was a Ukrainian journalist and founder of the online newspaper, Ukrainska Pravda.
On 16th September 2000, Gongadze was reported missing after he failed to return home from work. Foul play was immediately suspected as Gongadze made enemies with Ukraine's president, Leonid Kuchma, as Gongadze criticised the corruption, the suppression of free speech and the state's increasing control over media in Ukraine. Two months later, on 3rd November 2000, a body was found in a forest in the Tarashcha Raion of Kyiv Oblast, some 70 km outside Kyiv, near the city of Tarashcha. The body had been beheaded, it was doused in petrol, but it wasn't burned, and it was covered in acid. For some reason, the authorities did not officially acknowledge that the body was that of Gongadze until the following February and did not definitively confirm it until as late as March 2003. The body was eventually identified, and it was going to be returned to the family, but that did not happen.
On 28 November 2000, opposition politician Oleksandr Morox publicised secret tape recordings which he claimed implicated Kuchma in Gongadze's murder. The tapes recorded the discussions between Kuchma, presidential chief of staff Volodymyr Lytvyn, and Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko. Moroz got the tapes from Kuchma's bodyguard and SBU officer, Major Mykola Mel'nychenko. The discussions between the three men included comments expressing annoyance at Gongadze's writings, as well as discussions of ways to silence him, like deportation or arranging his kidnapping. However, the tapes' authenticity has been questioned due to their poor quality. At first, Kuchma denied the authenticity of the tapes, but later admitted that his voice was indeed in one of the tapes. However, he claimed that the tapes were selectively edited to distort his meaning.
In May 2001, the Ukrainian interior minister claimed that two hooligans working for a gangster named "Cyclops" killed Gongadze. Then, in June 2004, the Ukrainian government claimed that a gangster called "K" murdered Gongadze, but neither claims have any evidence to back them. On 1st March 2005, e policemen were arrested and charged for their involvement in Gongadze's murder. On 5th March 2005, Yuriy Kravchenko, the former interior minister, was founded dead in his dacha. Although he was found with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, foul play was suspected as Kravchenko was supposedly going to testify as an eyewitness in the trial of the policemen. Hryhory Omelchenko, who chaired the parliamentary committee that investigated the Gongadze case, told the New York Times that Kravchenko had ordered Pukach to abduct Gongadze on President Kuchma's orders.
On 6th January 2006, the trial of the three policemen started and, in mid-March 2008, they were sentenced. Mykola Protasov was given a sentence of 13 years, while Valeriy Kostenko and Oleksandr Popovych were each handed 12-year terms. On 22 July 2009, Oleksiy Pukach, one of the chief suspects and a police colonel, was arrested. On 29th January 2013, he was sentenced to life in prison. On 14 September 2010, Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General issued a statement stating that prosecutors had concluded that former Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko had ordered Pukach to carry out the murder. However, Gongadze's widow, Myroslava, stated that Kravchenko had no grounds for ordering the murder, and that several people ordered Gongadze's murder. On 24 March 2011, Ukrainian prosecutors charged Kuchma with involvement in the murder, but the charges were dropped in December due to a lack of evidence.
www.amnesty.org
On 16th September 2000, Gongadze was reported missing after he failed to return home from work. Foul play was immediately suspected as Gongadze made enemies with Ukraine's president, Leonid Kuchma, as Gongadze criticised the corruption, the suppression of free speech and the state's increasing control over media in Ukraine. Two months later, on 3rd November 2000, a body was found in a forest in the Tarashcha Raion of Kyiv Oblast, some 70 km outside Kyiv, near the city of Tarashcha. The body had been beheaded, it was doused in petrol, but it wasn't burned, and it was covered in acid. For some reason, the authorities did not officially acknowledge that the body was that of Gongadze until the following February and did not definitively confirm it until as late as March 2003. The body was eventually identified, and it was going to be returned to the family, but that did not happen.
On 28 November 2000, opposition politician Oleksandr Morox publicised secret tape recordings which he claimed implicated Kuchma in Gongadze's murder. The tapes recorded the discussions between Kuchma, presidential chief of staff Volodymyr Lytvyn, and Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko. Moroz got the tapes from Kuchma's bodyguard and SBU officer, Major Mykola Mel'nychenko. The discussions between the three men included comments expressing annoyance at Gongadze's writings, as well as discussions of ways to silence him, like deportation or arranging his kidnapping. However, the tapes' authenticity has been questioned due to their poor quality. At first, Kuchma denied the authenticity of the tapes, but later admitted that his voice was indeed in one of the tapes. However, he claimed that the tapes were selectively edited to distort his meaning.
In May 2001, the Ukrainian interior minister claimed that two hooligans working for a gangster named "Cyclops" killed Gongadze. Then, in June 2004, the Ukrainian government claimed that a gangster called "K" murdered Gongadze, but neither claims have any evidence to back them. On 1st March 2005, e policemen were arrested and charged for their involvement in Gongadze's murder. On 5th March 2005, Yuriy Kravchenko, the former interior minister, was founded dead in his dacha. Although he was found with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, foul play was suspected as Kravchenko was supposedly going to testify as an eyewitness in the trial of the policemen. Hryhory Omelchenko, who chaired the parliamentary committee that investigated the Gongadze case, told the New York Times that Kravchenko had ordered Pukach to abduct Gongadze on President Kuchma's orders.
On 6th January 2006, the trial of the three policemen started and, in mid-March 2008, they were sentenced. Mykola Protasov was given a sentence of 13 years, while Valeriy Kostenko and Oleksandr Popovych were each handed 12-year terms. On 22 July 2009, Oleksiy Pukach, one of the chief suspects and a police colonel, was arrested. On 29th January 2013, he was sentenced to life in prison. On 14 September 2010, Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General issued a statement stating that prosecutors had concluded that former Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko had ordered Pukach to carry out the murder. However, Gongadze's widow, Myroslava, stated that Kravchenko had no grounds for ordering the murder, and that several people ordered Gongadze's murder. On 24 March 2011, Ukrainian prosecutors charged Kuchma with involvement in the murder, but the charges were dropped in December due to a lack of evidence.
Ukraine: Further Information possible "disappearance" - Georgiy Gongadze, journalist - Amnesty International
A decapitated body believed to be that of missing journalist Georgiy Gongadze has been found in Ukraine. Independent journalist Georgiy Gongadze has been missing since 16 September. Amnesty International believes he may have been secretly detained either by the authorities or by one of the...
www.amnesty.org
