New York, December 14, 2011--Today's court ruling to scrap the case against former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma for allegedly ordering the 2000 murder of independent journalist Georgy Gongadze is a blow to press freedom, said the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Committee to Protect Journalists
Ukraine
Ukraine indicts Kuchma in Gongadze murder
Prosecutors indict the ex-president, right, on abuse-of-office charges related to the brutal 2000 killing of online journalist Georgy Gongadze. CPJ welcomes this potential milestone in the case. Authorities had long been accused of covering up possible high-level involvement in the slaying, the first worldwide to involve an online journalist.
• March 1: CPJ seeks new probe
• More on Gongadze case
New York, August 31, 2011--A former general with the Ukrainian Interior Ministry testified in a Kyiv court on Tuesday that he killed journalist Georgy Gongadze in 2000 in a plot orchestrated by former President Leonid Kuchma and other top officials, according to news reports and CPJ interviews.
New York, August 16, 2011--The Pechersky District Court in Kyiv must open to the public the ongoing trial against Aleksei Pukach, a former interior ministry general charged with the notorious 2000 killing of independent journalist Georgy Gongadze, the Committee to Protect Journalist said today.
New York, March 24, 2011--Eleven years after the brutal murder of online journalist Georgy Gongadze, Ukrainian prosecutors today indicted former President Leonid Kuchma on abuse-of-office charges in connection with the slaying, local and international news reports said.
New York, March 22, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes news that Ukrainian prosecutors have opened an investigation into allegations that former President Leonid Kuchma had a role in the 2000 abduction and murder of independent journalist Georgy Gongadze, left. CPJ called on Ukrainian investigators today to clarify the focus of the investigation and conduct it in a thorough and transparent manner.
New York, March 2, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disturbed by the recent actions of Ukrainian authorities that threaten to upend progress in the 10-year-old investigation into the September 2000 abduction and murder of independent journalist Georgy Gongadze, at left. The Kyiv Court of Appeals ruled today to reject a second appeal by Myroslava Gongadze, the journalist's widow, against the prosecutorial downgrading of the status of the murder from a contract killing to a "killing on verbal command."
Dear President Yanukovych: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by reports of irregularities in the decade-long investigation into the 2000 kidnapping and murder of Internet journalist Georgy Gongadze. Particularly, CPJ is disturbed by efforts to derail progress in the investigation and peg the ultimate responsibility for the murder on a dead suspect, while other leads in the case languish. Since assuming office in March, you have publicly stated your commitment to press freedom in Ukraine. The case of Georgy Gongadze is a litmus test for you and your administration, and we urge you to ensure that none of the perpetrators of his kidnapping and killing are allowed to walk free.
Attacks on the Press
| Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
On the Runet, Old-School Repression Meets New
By Nina Ognianova and Danny O'Brien
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has often talked about the importance of a free press and free Internet, telling reporters before his election that the Web "guarantees the independence of mass media." He explicitly tied the two together in his first State of the Union address in November 2008, declaring that "freedom of speech should be backed up by technological innovation" and that no government official "can obstruct discussion on the Internet."
• Provincial reporters targeted in a series of attacks; editor reported missing.
• Television journalists continue to face heavy political influence.
Key Statistic
1: Mastermind identified in Gongadze murder. Prosecutors stir controversy by blaming only a dead official for the plot.
The disappearance of a critical editor, a series of violent attacks, and several instances of politicized government regulation fueled deteriorating press freedom conditions. Authorities brought charges against another suspect in the 2000 murder of editor Georgy Gongadze, but they ended their long investigation amid controversy by naming a dead official as the sole mastermind.
New York, September 16, 2010--On Tuesday, Ukrainian prosecutors announced that the late Interior Minister Yuri Kravchenko had ordered the 2000 murder of muckraking Internet journalist Georgy Gongadze, left, whose decapitated body was found 10 years ago today in a forest outside Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.
Subscribe
Ukraine Atom Feed
