You're reading: Kuchma cleared in reporter’s killing

A Kyiv court on Wednesday dropped charges against former President Leonid Kuchma for his alleged involvement in the brutal killing of an investigative reporter 11 years ago, yet another twist in the unresolved case that has tainted Ukraine's commitment to the rule of law.

Kyiv’s Pechersk district court ruled that prosecutors acted illegally when they charged Kuchma, 73, with giving orders to his subordinates that eventually led to Heorhiy Gongadze’s murder, and ordered the criminal case against him closed.

The ruling does little to advance the probe into who was responsible for Gongadze’s death and, according to critics, demonstrates the cynical nature of Ukraine’s political and judicial systems, where criminal probes are often opened and closed to pressure opponents.

Kuchma, a former mentor of President Viktor Yanukovych, was charged unexpectedly in March with involvement in Gongadze’s murder based on audio recordings secretly made in his office in which he allegedly conspires against the journalist.

The authenticity of those tapes had been doubted for years, and prosecutors finally deemed them valid.

But Wednesday’s court ruling reversed that decision and declared the tapes inadmissible as evidence because they were obtained illegally.

In September 2000, Gongadze got into what he thought was a taxi and was joined by three others. He was driven outside Kyiv, beaten and strangled, his body doused with gasoline and burned.

Gongadze’s body was discovered in a forest outside Kiev two months later. Experts believe he was decapitated after his death.

Gongadze’s killing triggered months of protests against the president, a movement dubbed "Ukraine without Kuchma."

Those protests were seen as a precursor to the 2004 Orange Revolution, which overthrew the fraud-tainted victory of Kuchma’s protege Yanukovych.

Yanukovych won the presidency in 2010 in a legitimate election, and some believe the case against Kuchma was Yanukovych’s attempt to boost his own popularity by portraying himself as a leader committed to the rule of law.

Kuchma welcomed the court ruling, insisting he was innocent and saying that the tape recordings were doctored.

Valentyna Telychenko, a lawyer for Gongadze’s widow Myroslava, called the decision unjust and said she would lodge an appeal.

Myroslava Gongadze, who received political asylum in the United States with her two daughters, blames Kuchma for her husband’s death.

Prosecutor’s spokesman Yuri Boichenko said prosecutors would also appeal the ruling in order to continue the investigation.

Three former police officers have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms, and another one is currently on trial for involvement in Gongadze’s murder.

Still, the masterminds behind the crime have not been brought to justice. Prosecutors have concluded the murder was ordered by former Interior Minister Yuri Kravchenko, who died in 2005 in what authorities ruled to be a suicide, but many believed was a cover-up.

Political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said the court ruling demonstrated the existence of several competing factions in the Ukrainian government who were using Kuchma’s investigation for their personal ends — boosting their public image or advancing their career in law enforcement agencies.

"The authorities are far from united," Fesenko said.

Vadim Karasyov, a political analyst with ties to the government, said that while Kuchma can breath a sigh of relief, Gongadze’s case is far from solved. "This marks the end of Kuchma’s case but not the end of the political case of Gongadze," Karasyov said.