Body is missing Ukrainian journalist's, prosecutors rule
By The Associated Press,
freedomforum.org staff
02.27.01
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| Ukrainian demonstrators light candles, hold national flags and portraits of missing journalist Georgiy Gongadze with an inscription that reads:'Kuchma, where is Gongadze?' during memorial gathering in Kiev on Feb. 11 as protests arose around the Ukraine. |
Ukrainian prosecutors have ruled that a headless body found in November was that of Georgiy Gongadze, the journalist whose disappearance has sparked nationwide protests.
Gongadze, 31, edited the Internet newsletter Ukrainska Pravda and was an outspoken critic of the government and of alleged high-level corruption. President Leonid Kuchma's office has denied allegations that he was involved in Gongadze's murder.
Deputy state prosecutor Oleksiy Bahanets announced the ruling yesterday and ordered that Gongadze's mother and wife be recognized as victims in the case, a spokeswoman for the state prosecutor's office said.
According to local and Russian newspaper reports, prosecutors have launched a murder investigation into Gongadze's death.
Ukrainian prosecutors who examined the body said previously that DNA and other tests showed a 99.6% probability that it was Gongadze, but they had refused to rule conclusively. Russian experts said the probability was more than 99.9 percent.
The official identification could bolster Gongadze's supporters and Kuchma's opponents, who accuse him of being behind Gongadze's killing and say prosecutors and police have dragged their feet in the investigation. Kuchma strongly denies involvement.
Gongadze disappeared last September in Ukraine's capital, Kiev.
Recently, opposition political parties staged protests, including one on Feb. 25 in which several thousand people marched through the city with burning torches and an effigy of Kuchma in a cage, demanding his ouster.
A former Kuchma bodyguard has audio recordings of what he said were conversations between the president and his top aides, in which Kuchma is said to urge action to "get rid" of Gongadze. The tapes were played in Parliament.
Gongadze's wife, Myroslava, told the AP that she and Gongadze's mother, Lesia, had long fought for identification of the body, but would not immediately comment on the ruling.
"As long as I don't have an official document in my hands I will not be able to say anything,'' Myroslava Gongadze said.
She said the family had yet to consider funeral arrangements. Some political experts have said the funeral could turn into a protest against Kuchma.
Lesia Gongadze asked yesterday for a meeting with Kuchma, saying it could be a "positive step to finding the truth that will help us put an end to this complex and important case,'' her attorney Andriy Fedur said.
International observers had expressed concern about Gongadze's disappearance, and yesterday, a Ukrainian lawmaker said the country's delegation at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has nominated Gongadze for the 2001 OSCE journalism award.
Legislator Ihor Ostash said in a statement the step is "symbolic and important from the point of view of freedom of speech and journalistic rights in Ukraine.''
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