CNN World News: Ukraine Wtnesses People Power
02/09/2001 | Broker
Ukraine Wtnesses People Power
Leonid Kuchma is Facing Calls for his Resignation
February 8, 2001
By Douglas Herbert, CNN.com Europe writer
LONDON, England (CNN) -- The knives are out in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.
The recent discovery of a beheaded corpse in a forest near Kiev, Ukraine --
believed to be that of a muckraking journalist missing since September --
has left many Ukrainians baying for political blood.
"Ukraine without Kuchma" is the rallying cry of a grass-roots movement to
oust President Leonid Kuchma, now in his seventh year at the helm of a
European country nearly the size of France.
But size can be deceptive, since Ukraine also has the per-capita incomes of
a post-Soviet state -- around $50 a month -- along with other dubious
bequests, including a now-shuttered nuclear power plant at Chernobyl.
CNN.com Europe
More news from our
Europe edition
Over the years, Kuchma has received plaudits from the West, which has
tended to paint him as a would-be democrat intent on snuffing out a
decades-long legacy of Soviet mismanagement and corruption.
Ukraine has been the third-largest recipient of U.S. international aid,
securing around $2 billion since 1992, the year after its parliament
declared independence from the defunct Soviet Union.
Kuchma himself, though seen as instrumental in cultivating Ukraine's
post-independence image as a willing global partner, is fighting for his
political life amid allegations he was complicit in the journalist's
disappearance.
On Tuesday, about 5,000 protesters brandishing flags with anti-Kuchma
slogans marched on the parliament building.
Groups converged on the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, from across the country,
with one protester travelling from Zhytomyr, 140 kilometres to the west.
The demonstration coincided with a call by the European Union for a full
inquiry into the incident, which the EU believes has been dogged by
foot-dragging.
In the past, Kuchma might have been able to plausibly deny any part in the
apparent demise of Heorhiy Gongadze, whose Web site, Ukrainian Truth,
crusaded against purported corruption in Kuchma's government. "He's been
able to control anything before that's really blown up, there's been pretty
good damage control on the side of the Ukrainian government," said Tamara
Makarenko, an expert on post-Soviet organised crime and a consultant with
Jane's Intelligence Review.
Tamarenko contrasted the fallout from the Gongadze case to that of an
earlier political scandal involving Pavel Lazarenko, Ukraine's prime
minister from May 1996 to July 1997.
Mysterious tapes
Lazarenko, who had served as a government official since 1992, was indicted
by a California court last year on charges that he laundered more than $100
million in fraudulently received funds through Swiss bank accounts from 1994
to 1999. Kuchma denied any links to the laundering and dissociated himself
from Lazarenko.
What prevents him from adopting the same tack this time is the release of a
series of mysterious audio tapes on which a voice purported to be that of
Kuchma can be heard discussing ways to silence Gongadze.
Anti-Kuchma protesters marching in Kiev on Tuesday
On the first such tape, released by former presidential guard Mikola
Melnichenko last December, the voice can be heard suggesting to Interior
Minister Yuri Kravchenko that Gongadze should be "abducted by Chechens."
Kuchma and his officials initially sought to dismiss the tapes as a
trumped-up smear campaign by political opponents.
That tack has become more problematic, however, following an independent
expert analysis that concluded the tapes had not been doctored and that the
conversations on them were authentic.
In the wake of the finding, the country's deputy prosecutor general conceded
that some of the conversations on the tapes were authentic. But he added
that "all participants deny categorically some remarks."
Some observers say the Gongadze case, by serving up seemingly clear-cut
evidence of wrongdoing, offers Ukrainians a novel chance to do some
political house cleaning.
Mark Galeotti, a Russian and Eurasian crime expert at Keele University, in
the U.K., likens the effect of the Gongadze case to that of the
"Tangentopoli" kick-back scandal in Italy, which led to a widespread
crackdown against that country's organised crime networks in the early
1990s.
"Italy was a working democracy - in Ukraine democracy is rather more
creaky," Galeotti said. "I think this is, at it were, the first serious
windows of opportunity for a cleansing of Ukrainian politics."
While Galeotti ruled out any doomsday scenarios of Ukraine "collapsing", he
said: "Seeing a president who's been proven to be arranging crimes actually
being forced to pay for that will be an object lesson in democracy." Kuchma
has not been charged with any crime.
Peter Byrne, a journalist with the Kiev Post, said most Ukrainians are
cynical about the people who govern them and feel powerless to influence
events. He notes that living standards have been declining for a decade,
though they are not as dire as in neighbouring Belarussia under the insular
regime of Aleksandr Lukashenka.
Some observers have refused to rule out a Kuchma comeback.
"He might ride it out or he might not," said a Kiev-based diplomat from a
Western European country, who requested anonymity. "We are watching the
situation very closely."
Ukrainians urge president to quit
Protesters blame Kuchma for journalist's disappearance
February 6, 2001
Web posted at: 1706 GMT
KIEV, Ukraine -- Thousands of protesters have marched through the Ukrainian
capital, Kiev, calling for the resignation of President Leonid Kuchma.
Security was tight as about 5,000 demonstrators marched to the parliament
building on Tuesday, accusing the president of plotting the disappearance of
one of his critics, journalist Georgiy Gongadze.
The disappearance prompted the European Union to call for a full inquiry
into the incident, saying Ukrainian authorities had so far failed to
investigate the case thoroughly.
Protesters, including pensioners and students, trudged through heavy snow,
some carrying banners asking "Kuchma, where is Gongadze?"
A decapitated corpse found in November is believed to be that of Gongadze
but Kuchma has denied issuing orders to silence the journalist.
Gongadze, who had been critical of the government and crusaded against
corruption, disappeared last September.
"The European Union calls for a full and transparent inquiry into the
disappearance of Gongadze. Such an inquiry would generate greater confidence
in the Ukrainian authorities handling of this issue," the EU said in a
statement on Tuesday issued by the current Swedish presidency.
Groups from across Ukraine took part in the rally, with one travelling from
the western city of Zhytomyr, 140 km (87 miles) from Kiev, to join the
protest.
The march, the second this week, was supported by both left-wing and
right-wing parties -- a rare solidarity in a country deeply split between
those nostalgic for the stability of Soviet days and those committed to a
free market.
"I'm here because many people were killed for him (Kuchma)," one 18-year-old
student said.
Journalists and some legislators said Gongadze was most likely the victim of
a politically-motivated attack.
Ukraine is struggling to find its economic feet amid a mass of debt and
widespread fraud.
The Gongadze case has developed into the biggest political scandal in
Ukraine in a decade, although political analysts doubt whether Kuchma's grip
on power is slipping.
Kuchma has also come under pressure over a second case, the indictment of
former deputy prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko on charges of smuggling and
forgery stemming from her previous job as head of a private gas trading firm
Leonid Kuchma is Facing Calls for his Resignation
February 8, 2001
By Douglas Herbert, CNN.com Europe writer
LONDON, England (CNN) -- The knives are out in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.
The recent discovery of a beheaded corpse in a forest near Kiev, Ukraine --
believed to be that of a muckraking journalist missing since September --
has left many Ukrainians baying for political blood.
"Ukraine without Kuchma" is the rallying cry of a grass-roots movement to
oust President Leonid Kuchma, now in his seventh year at the helm of a
European country nearly the size of France.
But size can be deceptive, since Ukraine also has the per-capita incomes of
a post-Soviet state -- around $50 a month -- along with other dubious
bequests, including a now-shuttered nuclear power plant at Chernobyl.
CNN.com Europe
More news from our
Europe edition
Over the years, Kuchma has received plaudits from the West, which has
tended to paint him as a would-be democrat intent on snuffing out a
decades-long legacy of Soviet mismanagement and corruption.
Ukraine has been the third-largest recipient of U.S. international aid,
securing around $2 billion since 1992, the year after its parliament
declared independence from the defunct Soviet Union.
Kuchma himself, though seen as instrumental in cultivating Ukraine's
post-independence image as a willing global partner, is fighting for his
political life amid allegations he was complicit in the journalist's
disappearance.
On Tuesday, about 5,000 protesters brandishing flags with anti-Kuchma
slogans marched on the parliament building.
Groups converged on the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, from across the country,
with one protester travelling from Zhytomyr, 140 kilometres to the west.
The demonstration coincided with a call by the European Union for a full
inquiry into the incident, which the EU believes has been dogged by
foot-dragging.
In the past, Kuchma might have been able to plausibly deny any part in the
apparent demise of Heorhiy Gongadze, whose Web site, Ukrainian Truth,
crusaded against purported corruption in Kuchma's government. "He's been
able to control anything before that's really blown up, there's been pretty
good damage control on the side of the Ukrainian government," said Tamara
Makarenko, an expert on post-Soviet organised crime and a consultant with
Jane's Intelligence Review.
Tamarenko contrasted the fallout from the Gongadze case to that of an
earlier political scandal involving Pavel Lazarenko, Ukraine's prime
minister from May 1996 to July 1997.
Mysterious tapes
Lazarenko, who had served as a government official since 1992, was indicted
by a California court last year on charges that he laundered more than $100
million in fraudulently received funds through Swiss bank accounts from 1994
to 1999. Kuchma denied any links to the laundering and dissociated himself
from Lazarenko.
What prevents him from adopting the same tack this time is the release of a
series of mysterious audio tapes on which a voice purported to be that of
Kuchma can be heard discussing ways to silence Gongadze.
Anti-Kuchma protesters marching in Kiev on Tuesday
On the first such tape, released by former presidential guard Mikola
Melnichenko last December, the voice can be heard suggesting to Interior
Minister Yuri Kravchenko that Gongadze should be "abducted by Chechens."
Kuchma and his officials initially sought to dismiss the tapes as a
trumped-up smear campaign by political opponents.
That tack has become more problematic, however, following an independent
expert analysis that concluded the tapes had not been doctored and that the
conversations on them were authentic.
In the wake of the finding, the country's deputy prosecutor general conceded
that some of the conversations on the tapes were authentic. But he added
that "all participants deny categorically some remarks."
Some observers say the Gongadze case, by serving up seemingly clear-cut
evidence of wrongdoing, offers Ukrainians a novel chance to do some
political house cleaning.
Mark Galeotti, a Russian and Eurasian crime expert at Keele University, in
the U.K., likens the effect of the Gongadze case to that of the
"Tangentopoli" kick-back scandal in Italy, which led to a widespread
crackdown against that country's organised crime networks in the early
1990s.
"Italy was a working democracy - in Ukraine democracy is rather more
creaky," Galeotti said. "I think this is, at it were, the first serious
windows of opportunity for a cleansing of Ukrainian politics."
While Galeotti ruled out any doomsday scenarios of Ukraine "collapsing", he
said: "Seeing a president who's been proven to be arranging crimes actually
being forced to pay for that will be an object lesson in democracy." Kuchma
has not been charged with any crime.
Peter Byrne, a journalist with the Kiev Post, said most Ukrainians are
cynical about the people who govern them and feel powerless to influence
events. He notes that living standards have been declining for a decade,
though they are not as dire as in neighbouring Belarussia under the insular
regime of Aleksandr Lukashenka.
Some observers have refused to rule out a Kuchma comeback.
"He might ride it out or he might not," said a Kiev-based diplomat from a
Western European country, who requested anonymity. "We are watching the
situation very closely."
Ukrainians urge president to quit
Protesters blame Kuchma for journalist's disappearance
February 6, 2001
Web posted at: 1706 GMT
KIEV, Ukraine -- Thousands of protesters have marched through the Ukrainian
capital, Kiev, calling for the resignation of President Leonid Kuchma.
Security was tight as about 5,000 demonstrators marched to the parliament
building on Tuesday, accusing the president of plotting the disappearance of
one of his critics, journalist Georgiy Gongadze.
The disappearance prompted the European Union to call for a full inquiry
into the incident, saying Ukrainian authorities had so far failed to
investigate the case thoroughly.
Protesters, including pensioners and students, trudged through heavy snow,
some carrying banners asking "Kuchma, where is Gongadze?"
A decapitated corpse found in November is believed to be that of Gongadze
but Kuchma has denied issuing orders to silence the journalist.
Gongadze, who had been critical of the government and crusaded against
corruption, disappeared last September.
"The European Union calls for a full and transparent inquiry into the
disappearance of Gongadze. Such an inquiry would generate greater confidence
in the Ukrainian authorities handling of this issue," the EU said in a
statement on Tuesday issued by the current Swedish presidency.
Groups from across Ukraine took part in the rally, with one travelling from
the western city of Zhytomyr, 140 km (87 miles) from Kiev, to join the
protest.
The march, the second this week, was supported by both left-wing and
right-wing parties -- a rare solidarity in a country deeply split between
those nostalgic for the stability of Soviet days and those committed to a
free market.
"I'm here because many people were killed for him (Kuchma)," one 18-year-old
student said.
Journalists and some legislators said Gongadze was most likely the victim of
a politically-motivated attack.
Ukraine is struggling to find its economic feet amid a mass of debt and
widespread fraud.
The Gongadze case has developed into the biggest political scandal in
Ukraine in a decade, although political analysts doubt whether Kuchma's grip
on power is slipping.
Kuchma has also come under pressure over a second case, the indictment of
former deputy prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko on charges of smuggling and
forgery stemming from her previous job as head of a private gas trading firm