Seven years after the muder of Ukranian journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, the lack of political will and sabotage are being seen as the reasons why his killers remain scot-free.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) launched in Kiev its third report on the investigation of the murder of Gongadze. The report was launched in advance of the seventh anniversary of his death on September 16. The case of Gongadze, the founding editor of the Ukrainska Pravda website, concerns above all the impunity of those in power who sanction violence and intimidation against journalists.
Gongadze disappeared on September 16, 2000. Two months later, a body with the cut-off head was found in the woodland near Kiev and identified as that of Gongadze. The death of Gongadze created a furore and speculations were rife over then President Leonid Kuchma’s possible involvement in the murder. Kuchma denied the accusations.
“Seven years after the assassination of Gongadze, this new report provides once again ample evidence that, despite prima facie evidence that senior politicians colluded in harming him, the Ukranian government continues to frustrate and sabotage investigations of the murder,†said IFJ President Jim Boumelha at the launch.
The report is called “Official Obstruction is Rewarded†– a reference to president Viktor Yushchenko’s award earlier this year to former general prosecutor Mikhail Potebenko of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. It was Potebenko to whom Gongadze appealed for help when he realised he was being followed. and Potebenko ignored him.
The report has been published by the International Federation of Journalists, the Institute of Mass Information of Ukraine, the National Union of Journalists of the UK and Ireland, and the Gongadze Foundation, who have monitored the case jointly.
“That the Ukrainian president has presented Potebenko with a state honour epitomises the official indifference, and even opposition, to dealing with issues raised by the case,†Boumelha said. “If there was ever a political will to find the instigators of Gongadze’s murder, it appears that it has now been overtaken by the efforts of members of the political establishment to protect each other, and each other’s reputations. It is a scandalous cover-up that casts a shadow over democracy in the Ukraine.â€
IFJ says that continued political interference and pressure have played a major part in these substantial setbacks. It is now quite clear that the opportunity provided by the political changes in the Ukraine following the “Orange revolution†has been missed. The report made detailed recommendations addressed to the president and government of Ukraine, to the general prosecutor and to the Council of Europe.
There had been, said Reporters sans Frontières (RSF), “constant delays, attempts to close the trial to the press and the public, difficulties in proceeding against politicians implicated in this killing, particularly in the recordings made by Mykola Melnitchenko, former officer of the presidential guard, and so onâ€.
“These failures had led the journalist’s mother, Lessiya Gongadze, to slam the trial as a ’sham’ and to withdraw from it,†said RSF. “We cannot but state that there is a lack of political will in this caseâ€.
