Second Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has said that the court cannot consider and make a decision on the criminal case under which he is charged with being involved in the murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze, as the tapes recorded by former State Security Guard Major Mykola Melnychenko are inadmissible as evidence.
In an interview with Weekly.ua published on November 24 Kuchma said that the case against him is based on "the illegal, falsified" tapes of Melnychenko. He noted that the Constitutional Court of Ukraine explained the norm of the constitution regarding evidence obtained in an illegal way.
"The court confirmed that the sources of Melnychenko’s tapes are illegal and cannot be used as evidence in court. In addition, Melnychenko has been evading criminal responsibility for a month, hiding from Ukrainian investigatory agencies abroad. All this makes court hearings on the case and making the final decision on it impossible," Kuchma said.
As reported, 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 have been declared to be material evidence in the case.
