Ukrainian ex-president Leonid Kuchma on Wednesday denied involvement in the 2000 murder of opposition journalist Georgiy Gongadze and said he was ready to go through "all the torments of hell" to prove his innocence.
Kuchma, a two-term president of post-Soviet Ukraine, appeared for questioning at the general prosecutor’s office in Kiev after a criminal case was opened against him on Tuesday on suspicion of having a part in Gongadze’s killing.
But he was suddenly driven away in early afternoon, apparently alarmed by the presence of his ex-bodyguard, who was behind the publication of audio tapes that appeared to link his former boss to the killing.
The opening of the case on Tuesday against Kuchma, once a patron of President Viktor Yanukovich, surprised many observers.
Critics and political opponents of Yanukovich have consistently accused him of covering up political and business associates’ misdeeds since coming to power in February 2010, and at the same time persecuting opposition rivals.
Speaking to journalists before he appeared for questioning, Kuchma said he wanted to "wash away the shameful stain" of the accusation against him.
"You know I lived 10 years under psychological pressure. So today I am morally ready to go through all the torments of hell to show that I am innocent," the 72-year-old Kuchma said.
Kuchma, a former Soviet missile factory director who was president from 1994 to 2005, appeared for questioning after a criminal case was opened against him on suspicion of involvement in Gongadze’s killing.
The grisly murder of the 31-year-old campaigning editor, a fierce public critic of Kuchma and a well-known face on TV talk shows, became post-Soviet Ukraine’s most notorious crime case.
It led to street clashes in Kiev between protesters and riot police and was a turning point in Kuchma’s 10-year rule.
Former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Yanukovich’s fiercest rival, has said she sees the whole affair as "bluff and window-dressing" aimed at projecting the impression that the Yanukovich leadership was abiding by the rule of law.
She said Kuchma’s prosecution would come to nothing.
One analyst suggested the proceedings may clear Kuchma’s name. "In the end it may turn out that things will suit Kuchma fine. He risks very little — there is no real direct proof against him," said Volodymyr Fesenko of the Penta think tank.
AUDIO TAPES
The simultaneous appearance of Mykola Melnychenko, Kuchma’s ex-bodyguard who became one of his main accusers in the affair, appeared to frighten Kuchma.
Melnychenko was involved in the publication of audio tapes, secretly recorded between 1998 and 2000, which appeared to incriminate Kuchma.
A voice resembling that of Kuchma can be heard on the tapes telling officials to "deal with" Gongadze. The authenticity of the tapes has never been confirmed.
Melnychenko, before going in to meet investigators, told journalists he wanted "a face-to-face" with Kuchma to eliminate "contradictions in our evidence."
But some hours later he re-appeared and told journalists that Kuchma had fled on spotting him.
"Leonid Danilovich (Kuchma) became nervous when he saw me and stood up," Melnychenko told reporters. "He shouted ‘Unless you detain me, I will not take part in the investigation’ and he ran out very quickly like a shameful wolf, showing his heels."
Reporters later saw Kuchma leave in his official car.
Gongadze, whose Internet newspaper Ukrainska Pravda was sharply critical of Kuchma’s rule, disappeared in September 2000 in the capital Kiev. His headless body was found one and a half months later in woodland outside the city.
OFFICIALS JAILED
Last September, on the 10th anniversary of Gongadze’s death, the state prosecutor named Yuri Kravchenko, interior minister at the time, as the person who had instigated and ordered his Gongadze’s killing.
In 2005, Kravchenko was found dead at home from gunshot wounds which were officially said to be self-inflicted.
Two police officers are already in jail for their part in the killing, while a third police officer is awaiting trial.
But Gongadze’s family and the political opposition have always said other powerful figures were behind his killing. The investigation now under way should decide whether there are grounds to charge Kuchma with a crime or not.
