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September 17 marks the 20th anniversary of the murder of Georgy Gongadze.
Since then, only the direct perpetrators of the murder, Pukach and his subordinates, have been convicted. At the same time, clients have not settled in court.
In the famous “Melnichenko tapes” there are recordings from the office of former President Leonid Kuchma, in which a voice similar to Kuchma’s gives orders to deal with the journalist.
Therefore, the version about the participation of Kuchma, as well as the former Minister of Internal Affairs Yuri Kravchenko and the former head of the Presidential Administration Volodymyr Lytvyn is the most widespread. But, we repeat, these cases never made it to court.
On the eve of the anniversary of the journalist’s death, “Strana” interviewed Renata Kuzmina, a people’s deputy of the Platform Opposition for Life faction. As Ukraine’s first deputy attorney general, Kuzmin investigated the case of those who ordered the murder in 2010. In particular, a case was opened against Leonid Kuchma. However, then, in 2011, it was closed by court decision.
– At one point, as the first deputy attorney general, he investigated the case of Leonid Kuchma’s involvement in the order for the murder of Georgy Gongadze. To what extent do these investigations confirm Kuchma’s involvement in this crime?
– The case concerning Kuchma’s involvement in the Gongadze murder was completed and was being prepared to be sent to court for substantive examination. It contained sufficient evidence to accuse the former president of committing this crime and sufficient grounds for the court to convict him.
– Who, besides Kuchma, also participated in the ordering and organization of the murder of Gongadze? Vladimir Litvin? Yuri Kravchenko?
– Everyone you listed was checked for their involvement in the murder. General Pukach spoke in detail about the role of Kuchma, Kravchenko and Lytvyn in this crime. His testimony is well recorded in the interrogation records. The version about his participation in the murder was a priority. Unfortunately, she was “buried” along with the Kuchma case.
– And why was the Kuchma case buried during the Yanukovych era and they still do not return to it?
– According to the information our investigation team received, a fabulous bribe was paid, even by today’s standards, for the “funeral” in this case. As a result, the case against Kuchma was closed and investigators and prosecutors were prohibited from not only charging Kuchma with involvement in Gongadze’s murder, but even summoning him for questioning.
It has been a long time since then, during which the closest circle of Kuchma and his foreign “partners” managed not only to “whitewash” the reputation of the former president in public opinion, even in the West, but also to discredit members of our investigative team, as well as some important witnesses for the prosecution.
Furthermore, under, to put it mildly, strange circumstances, all key witnesses and eyewitnesses to those events passed away. Well, Kuchma’s appointment as head of the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG for the implementation of the Minsk accords cannot be perceived other than his full legitimacy in the eyes of the world community, which once demanded to send the former president to the jail.
Here, as you will understand, any attempt to bring Kuchma to justice for Gongadze’s murder would have caused the hysteria of Ukrainian pseudo-patriots, subsidy consumers and their overseas masters regarding another “zrada” and the interruption of the process. of peace in Donbass.
All this must be considered as a special operation to “save private Kuchma”, in which Poroshenko and Zelensky participated. And they continue to participate. I am sure of the conspiracy between them, as I am also sure that under Zelenskiy, as well as under Poroshenko, as well as under Yanukovych, the organizers and clients of the Gongadze assassination will not be prosecuted.
– There is an opinion that Gongaze was killed under the tapes. In other words, the people who incited Kuchma against Gongadze already knew that there were tapes of conversations from Kuchma’s office in which Gongadze was mentioned. How correct is this version?
– The investigative versions, until they are confirmed by a judicial verdict, are only versions, that is, assumptions. The investigation also considered this version. But even this version does not absolve the former president of responsibility.
Do you remember what was on those tapes? Above them, a man with the voice of Kuchma gives the order to a man with the voice of Kravchenko to “shut up Gongadze, take him to Chechnya which, by the way, was at that time a war, and hand him over to the bandits for demanding a ransom for him … “
Who to ask for ransom? Her very poor mother? If you don’t collect the ransom money, then what? In general, I will not go into details, we had many reasons to bring Kuchma to justice.
– Who, in your opinion, is behind the recordings of conversations in Kuchma’s office? Was it really Melnichenko himself who did it on a dictaphone, or was he assisted by representatives of the Ukrainian or foreign special services?
– Until the version is confirmed by the court’s conviction, it remains only an assumption. Melnichenko, by the way, claims that he not only took notes with a dictaphone, but also listened to all the negotiations in Kuchma’s office, hidden in a special closet.
And General Pukach, who was treacherously misled by the heads of the law enforcement agencies, told investigators in sufficient detail all he knew. And he knew, as you know, a great deal.
