You're reading: Kuchma dismisses all charges by Prosecutor General’s Office (updated)

Ukraine's second President (1994-2005) Leonid Kuchma has arrived in the Main Investigative Department of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office for the second questioning as a suspect in the murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze.

Kuchma dismissed all the charges by the Prosecutor General’s Office and refused to undergo face-to-face interrogation with former major of Ukrainian State Guard Department Mykola Melnychenko.

"I was given an order on the institution of criminal proceedings… Absolutely no new evidence has come out," he told journalists before the PGO.

Besides, the ex-president refused to undergo a face-to-face interrogation with former major of Ukrainian State Guard Department Mykola Melnychenko.

"I think he is a traitor," Kuchma told reporters.

The Prosecutor General’s Office has charged Kuchma with the abuse of office with severe consequences. If found guilty, he may be imprisoned from five to twelve years and barred from occupying certain positions. So far, Kuchma is released on his own recognizance not to leave.

Kuchma is suspected of abusing his office with giving illegal directives to Interior Ministry officials, which led to the murder of Gongadze.