A criminal investigation could be re-started against former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, who ruled the country from 1994 to 2005, Ukraine's First Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin said in an interview published in the Thursday issue of the Segodnya (Today) newspaper.
“The court cited the absence of sufficient grounds behind the decision to open a case against Kuchma. It means that investigators will now have an opportunity to polish their materials and this time present arguments that would be sufficient to open a new criminal case against Kuchma,” he said.
Asked whether the new charges will be phrased the same way or differently, Kuzmin said: “Either the same or in a different way. It is necessary to continue the investigation bearing in mind the mistakes pointed out by the court.”
The Ukrainian police continue hunting those who ordered and masterminded the killing of journalist Georgy Gongadze, he said.
A criminal case was opened against Kuchma on March 21, 2011. The ex-president was accused of exceeding his authorities, subsequently leading to Gongadze’s death.
However, the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv overturned the Prosecutor General Office’s decision to launch a criminal investigation against Kuchma on December 12, 2011. The court ruled that audio recordings provided by Kuchma’s former bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko could not act as evidence in the case.
Kyiv’s Court of Appeal and then the Supreme Specialized Court for Civil and Criminal Cases upheld the Pechersky District Court’s ruling.
Journalist Gongadze went missing in Kyiv on September 16, 2000. A decapitated body experts concluded could be that of Gongadze was found outside the Ukrainian capital in November. Skull parts the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said belonged to the journalist were found in the Kyiv region in 2009. However, the remains have not been buried yet because Gongadze’s mother still refuses to identify them as her son’s.
