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Report alleges prosecutors questioned Kuchma on possible involvement of Putin in the case

(Staff, Interfax-Ukraine) Ukraine’s general prosecutor’s office confirmed on Feb. 25 that they had days earlier questioned former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma in connection with their investigation into the 2000 murder and beheading of muckraking journalist Georgiy Gongadze.

Prosecutors were tight-lipped on the details of the investigation, but confirmed to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency that they had on Feb. 23, some eight years into the investigation, questioned Kuchma, who is believed by many to have ordered subordinates to get rid of the corruption-probing journalist. It was the first time Kuchma was questioned in the case since 2005.

“It is true that the former president, Leonid Kuchma, was questioned in relation with this case,” deputy general prosecutor Mykola Holomsha told Interfax-Ukraine.

Holomsha refused to reveal further details.

Citing sources close to Kuchma, the internet website Ohlyadach said Kuchma was during the questioning asked about the possible role of Russia’s FSB secret service in Gongadze’s disappearance, and the possible role of current Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who headed the FSB then. As the sources said, one scenario being considered by the prosecutorial investigators is that the Russian secret service played a role in clearing Kuchma of any possible involvement in the murder of Gongadze.

According to sources cited by Ohlyadach, Kuchma is, himself, disturbed by apparent prosecutorial attempts to pin involvement in the case on Russia, as it could seriously strain bilateral relations.

More than eight years later, international and national voices continue to press Ukrainian authorities to find out who silenced the crusading Kyiv journalist who founded Ukrainska Pravda website and used the online news platform to criticize high-level corruption.

Recent progress has been reported. Nearly a year ago, three former police officers were sentenced to prison terms of 12-13 years. But nobody thinks the convictions of Mykola Protasov, Valeriy Kostenko and Oleksandr Popovych represent justice. If the trio did participate in the actual killing and beheading of Gongadze, they are widely seen as fall guys, lower-level police officers who followed orders.