You're reading: Lawyer of Myroslava Gongadze appeals against closure of case on premeditated murder of journalist

Valentyna Telychenko, the lawyer of Myroslava Gongadze, the widow of journalist Georgy Gongadze, has appealed to the Court of Appeals in Kyiv against a ruling by Pechersky District Court of Kyiv declaring legal the closure of the criminal case against Former Chief of the External Surveillance Department at the Ukrainian Interior Ministry Oleksiy Pukach, who was accused of the premeditated murder of journalist Gongadze.

Telychenko said she would announce later the time and date of consideration of the appeal, as soon as she has this information.

As reported, Pechersky District Court of Kyiv declared legal the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office’s order to close the criminal case against Pukach, who was accused of the premeditated murder of journalist Gongadze. During a Monday sitting, the court announced its ruling on a lawsuit filed by Gongadze widow’s lawyer Valentyna Telychenko and injured person Oleksiy Podolsky. The court said that the plaintiffs’ proofs of Pukach’s involvement into the murder are evaluative, and the investigator followed to the norms of the Criminal and Procedural Code of Ukraine.

Commenting on the court’s ruling, Telychenko said: "Unfortunately, the court repeated a mistake of the Prosecutor General’s Office’s, which asserted that Pukach carried out an order of [Ex-Interior Minister Yuriy] Kravchenko and other unidentified persons, and at the same time it [the Prosecutor General’s Office] does not see any signs of a premeditated murder in this." According to Telychenko, this ruling demonstrates "an attempt of investigators to help people who had a part in the murder to avoid being caught," and thus Pukach is "the last link in the chain of this crime."

Later, the Prosecutor General’s Office stated that it is too early to say that the courts have made a final decision regarding the wording of the charges against Former Chief of the External Surveillance Department at the Ukrainian Interior Ministry Oleksiy Pukach. Head of a department of the Prosecutor General’s Office Volodymyr Shylov said that at this stage such appeals by the injured party are premature, as the wording of the charges is not final, and could be changed in the courts.