Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | High Graphics | AudioVideo | Feedback | Help | Noticias | Newyddion |
BBC Sport>> High Graphics | BBC SPORT>>
Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | AudioVideo |
World Contents: Africa | Americas | Asia-Pacific | Europe | Middle East | South Asia | From Our Own Correspondent | Letter From America |

BBC News Online: World: Europe


Wednesday, 10 January, 2001, 16:01 GMT

Headless journalist 'identified'


Kiev demonstration, 19 December
Ukraine's chief prosecutor has told parliament that a headless body at the centre of a major political scandal is almost certainly that of missing journalist Georgy Gongadze.

Mikhailo Potebenko said experts were 99.66% certain of the identification, following DNA tests, but he called for further analysis.

President Leonid Kuchma
A former presidential bodyguard and an opposition politician have alleged that Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma ordered the journalist's assassination, and there have been mass demonstrations calling for his resignation.

Mr Kuchma has denied the allegations, and the authorities have staged counter-demonstrations in his support.

Mr Gongadze, aged 31, was the editor of an online newspaper, Ukrainska Pravda, that had been outspokenly critical of Mr Kuchma.

He disappeared in September.

US concern

The body was discovered on the outskirts of the village of Tarashcha, north of Kiev, two months later.

Poster bearing silhouette of Georgy Gongadze's head
A local coroner's report on the body, which apparently identifies it as Mr Gongadze's, was never officially released.

The allegations of Mr Kuchma's involvement in the case rest on audio tapes, in which a voice is heard urging that Mr Gongadze should be "abducted by Chechens".

Mr Potebenko told parliament that it was impossible to determine whether the tapes were genuine, because they contained "editing, removals or inserts of separate fragments, words and sounds, and were of low quality".

The former bodyguard who released the tapes, Mykola Melnichenko, has been charged with slander and forgery.

On Tuesday a Ukrainian parliamentary commission investigating Mr Gongadze's disappearance accused prosecutors of eliminating evidence linked to the case.

The same day, the US State Department said any friend of Ukraine had to follow the Gongadze affair "with concern", and called for a "speedy and transparent" investigation.


Related to this story:
Protesters demand Kuchma resignation (19 Dec 00 | Europe) Ukrainian president under pressure (17 Dec 00 | Europe) Death, lies and audiotape - Ukraine-style (29 Nov 00 | Media reports) Outspoken Ukraine journalist missing (19 Sep 00 | Media reports)


Internet links: Parliament of Ukraine | Ukrainian Pravda (in Ukrainian) |
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | High Graphics | AudioVideo | Feedback | Help | Noticias | Newyddion |
BBC Sport>> High Graphics | BBC SPORT>>
Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | AudioVideo |
World Contents: Africa | Americas | Asia-Pacific | Europe | Middle East | South Asia | From Our Own Correspondent | Letter From America |

Back to top | BBC News Home | BBC Homepage | ©