Gongadze's widow appeals closure of criminal case against Kuchma

Valentyna Telychenko, the lawyer of journalist Georgy Gongadze's widow Myroslava Gongadze, has lodged an appeal with Kyiv Court of Appeals against a ruling by Kyiv Pechersky District Court to close a criminal case against Ukraine's second president (1994-2005) Leonid Kuchma on suspicion of his involvement in the journalist's murder. "I have prepared and sent today by post through Pechersky District Court a relevant complaint against this ruling to the Court of Appeals," Telychenko told reporters on Wednesday.

As reported, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office also filed an appeal contesting the decision made by Kyiv's Pechersky District Court, which reversed the decision to open a criminal case against ex-president Leonid Kuchma.

A criminal case was opened against Kuchma on March 21, 2011. He is charged with abuse of power and official authority, which subsequently led to the murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze (Part 3, Article 166 of the 1960 Criminal Code). Tapes secretly recorded by Kuchma's former bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko in the president's office were declared to be material evidence in the case.

On Dec. 13, 2011, Kyiv Pechersky District Court cancelled an order by the Prosecutor General's Office to open a criminal case against Kuchma on suspicion of his possible involvement in the murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze.

The court ruled that Melnychenko's tapes were obtained illegally and thus cannot serve as evidence in the criminal case against Kuchma.