Criminal case against Kuchma already investigated, says prosecutor general

Five criminal cases have been opened on the murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze, and a separate criminal case against former Major of the State Department of Guard Mykola Melnychenko is being investigated, Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka said at the Donetsk regional prosecutor's office on Friday. "As for Gongadze's murder, [the case against second Ukrainian President Leonid] Kuchma, and [the case against Parliament Speaker Volodymyr] Lytvyn, the answer to this question has already been given. There are five criminal cases on the murder of Gongadze. The first concerned police officers who have already been convicted. They got their punishment. I mean those who participated in the killing of Gongadze. The second criminal case [against former Head of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's Foreign Surveillance Department Oleksiy] Pukach is being considered in court, and he is an accessory in the killing," he said.

"The third case is the case against [former Interior Minister Yuriy] Kravchenko, which was sent to court along with the Pukach case, but the court decided to separate this case [where Kravchenko acts as an accomplice in the murder]. The fourth criminal case is the case against Kuchma for abuse of power. This case has already been investigated, the materials have been provided to Kuchma and his lawyers, and they are currently studying the volumes of the criminal case," he said.

Pshonka said that Kuchma was continuing to study the case, but he also added that the prosecutor had the right to reduce through the courts the time Kuchma gets to examine the case materials.

The fifth criminal case, Pshonka said, concerns the murder of Gongadze.

"Everything in this fifth criminal case concerns those who might have ordered the killing or killed [Gongadze]."

He said that this case was also being investigated separately.

"And there is also a criminal case against Melnychenko, which is currently being investigated by the investigation department of the SBU," Pshonka said.