Ex-minister found dead

2005-03-04 13:45

Kiev - Ukraine's former Interior Minister Yuri Kravchenko was found dead on Friday, just before he was due to meet with prosecutors for questioning about the slaying of an investigative journalist five years ago, officials said.

Kravchenko had been accused of involvement in the 2000 killing of Internet journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, who investigated corruption at the highest levels of the Ukrainian government.

Kravchenko had been summoned to give testimony at 10am (08:00GMT) on Friday to prosecutors about Gongadze's death.

A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, Inna Kisel, said his death was an apparent suicide. She refused to provide any other information, referring all questions to the General Prosecutor's Office. Vyacheslav Ostapov, spokesperson for the Prosecutor General's Office, said he had "no information at the moment".

Gongadze was abducted in Kiev in September 2000, and his decapitated body was found months later buried in a forest outside the capital. His death sparked months of protests against former President Leonid Kuchma, who the opposition alleged was involved in the killing. Kuchma, who is currently at a spa in the Czech Republic, has denied any involvement.

The allegations against Kuchma were based on recordings that a former presidential bodyguard said were made secretly in Kuchma's office. In the tapes, Kuchma was overheard repeatedly complaining about Gongadze's reporting and ordering Kravchenko to "drive him out, throw (him) out, give him to the Chechens".

Volodymyr Lytvyn, Kuchma's former chief-of-staff, was also allegedly heard on the tapes saying: "In my opinion, let loose Kravchenko to use alternative methods."

"I wasn't brought up that way"

Kuchma and his circle have disputed the authenticity of the tapes. Lytvyn dismissed the allegations in an earlier interview, saying "I wasn't brought up that way." He said on Thursday he was ready to testify in connection with the case.

Maryna Ostapenko, speaking for the State Security Service, said she couldn't comment until she spoke with the service's chief, Oleksandr Turchinov, who was not immediately available.

Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun said on Wednesday that investigators had identified all four people involved in Gongadze's 2000 slaying and knew who was the mastermind. He refused to identify the person who ordered the killing, however.

Two of the suspected killers are in custody, one is under orders not to leave Kiev and the fourth, a senior police official, is on an international wanted list. All were employed by Ukraine's Interior Ministry.

Ukraine's Segodnya newspaper reported that Kravchenko had been put under official surveillance in December.

President Viktor Yushchenko, who was elected in December, has said that it is a top task and moral obligation of his government to solve Gongadze's killing.

- AP