Dow Jones Newswires on todays' actions in Kyiv
10/12/2002 | Englishman
Обратите внимание на 1-е предложение: ДЕСЯТКИ тысяч участников.
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
KIEV (AP)--Opposition lawmakers rallied tens of thousands of Ukrainians Saturday in the second nationwide demonstrations in a month seeking to oust President Leonid Kuchma, who is under investigation for allegedly approving arms sales to Iraq.
Throngs of supporters waving banners and chanting "Away with Kuchma" marched behind former Deputy Prime Minister Julia Tymoshenko, Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko and Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz in the second mass demonstration seeking to unseat Ukraine's embattled president.
Opposition groups and millions of rank-and-file Ukrainians accuse Kuchma's administration of endemic corruption, chronic abuse of office, and vote rigging that have smothered democratic rule and impoverished this former Soviet republic of 48 million people.
"Kuchma's a criminal, robbing the Ukrainian people to no end and that's why I came today," said Mykola Panasovich, a laborer who refused to give his last name.
Protesters with banners reading "Bring Kuchma to court" also staged unofficial "people's tribunals" across Ukraine in a grass-roots effort to bring the president to justice.
"For the crimes he's committed against the country ... Kuchma deserves the highest punishment - live in prison," said Hryhoriy Omelchenko, head of parliament's committee investigating corruption.
Opposition leaders said they will ask the courts to press some 30 criminal charges against Kuchma, who was invited to defend himself in front of more than 20,000 demonstrators gathered in the capital's European Square.
A Kuchma spokeswoman said he would not appear because he was hosting the visiting Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, and busy with other official business.
Kuchma has consistently refused to meet with opposition leaders since the first protests Sept. 16.
Although thousands of his supporters joined the rally, ex-Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko _ whose bloc won more of the popular vote than any other in March parliamentary elections but failed to gain control of the legislature _ dealt a significant blow to the protest by refusing to take part.
His support had boosted turnout for the first public protests on Sept. 16 when tens of thousands of people took to the streets calling for Kuchma's resignations or early elections.
In August, Kuchma announced his willingness to cede more power to parliament, but has repeatedly refused to resign.
Kuchma was elected in 1994 and re-elected five years later. His current term ends in 2004, and the constitution prohibits him from running again.
The demonstrations were timed a day before the expected arrival of a U.S.-British team to investigate whether Ukraine sold radar systems to Iraq with Kuchma's blessing.
The U.S. State Department said last month that it had verified the authenticity of a July 2000 recording by the former bodyguard in which the president is allegedly heard approving the sale of a Kolchuha system to Baghdad.
Updated October 12, 2002 8:34 a.m. EDT
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
KIEV (AP)--Opposition lawmakers rallied tens of thousands of Ukrainians Saturday in the second nationwide demonstrations in a month seeking to oust President Leonid Kuchma, who is under investigation for allegedly approving arms sales to Iraq.
Throngs of supporters waving banners and chanting "Away with Kuchma" marched behind former Deputy Prime Minister Julia Tymoshenko, Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko and Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz in the second mass demonstration seeking to unseat Ukraine's embattled president.
Opposition groups and millions of rank-and-file Ukrainians accuse Kuchma's administration of endemic corruption, chronic abuse of office, and vote rigging that have smothered democratic rule and impoverished this former Soviet republic of 48 million people.
"Kuchma's a criminal, robbing the Ukrainian people to no end and that's why I came today," said Mykola Panasovich, a laborer who refused to give his last name.
Protesters with banners reading "Bring Kuchma to court" also staged unofficial "people's tribunals" across Ukraine in a grass-roots effort to bring the president to justice.
"For the crimes he's committed against the country ... Kuchma deserves the highest punishment - live in prison," said Hryhoriy Omelchenko, head of parliament's committee investigating corruption.
Opposition leaders said they will ask the courts to press some 30 criminal charges against Kuchma, who was invited to defend himself in front of more than 20,000 demonstrators gathered in the capital's European Square.
A Kuchma spokeswoman said he would not appear because he was hosting the visiting Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, and busy with other official business.
Kuchma has consistently refused to meet with opposition leaders since the first protests Sept. 16.
Although thousands of his supporters joined the rally, ex-Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko _ whose bloc won more of the popular vote than any other in March parliamentary elections but failed to gain control of the legislature _ dealt a significant blow to the protest by refusing to take part.
His support had boosted turnout for the first public protests on Sept. 16 when tens of thousands of people took to the streets calling for Kuchma's resignations or early elections.
In August, Kuchma announced his willingness to cede more power to parliament, but has repeatedly refused to resign.
Kuchma was elected in 1994 and re-elected five years later. His current term ends in 2004, and the constitution prohibits him from running again.
The demonstrations were timed a day before the expected arrival of a U.S.-British team to investigate whether Ukraine sold radar systems to Iraq with Kuchma's blessing.
The U.S. State Department said last month that it had verified the authenticity of a July 2000 recording by the former bodyguard in which the president is allegedly heard approving the sale of a Kolchuha system to Baghdad.
Updated October 12, 2002 8:34 a.m. EDT