Ukraine's former president Leonid Kuchma returned Saturday to Kiev, where he is likely to face questioning over the gruesome murder of an opposition reporter that became a symbol of the rampant corruption of his regime.
Kuchma flew into Kiev from the Czech Republic where he had been vacationing, a day after his onetime interior minister Yury Kravchenko was found dead.
The former minister was found dead just hours before he was due to answer prosecutors' questions over the 2000 slaying of investigative reporter Georgy Gongadze.
Kuchma did not speak to reporters upon arrival.
Although prosecutors have not yet said whether they will summon Kuchma over Kravchenko's death, which authorities have called a suicide, or the so-called "Gongadze affair," many observers expect the former leader eventually to be questioned.
Before leaving the Czech Republic, Kuchma said he realized he would be called before Ukrainian prosecutors. Communist parliamentarians called for his arrest following Kravchenko's death.
Gongadze, who had been critical of Kuchma in articles in his Internet newspaper, Ukrainska Pravda, disappeared in September 2000 and his headless body was found two months later.
The murder triggered widespread anger at the government that culminated in last year's "orange revolution" protests that brought to power opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko -- a Kuchma opponent who nearly died from poisoning during the election campaign.
Yushchenko has made solving Gongadze's murder one of the top priorities of his administration.
Kuchma was implicated in Gongadze's murder after his former bodyguard Mykola Melnichenko released tapes that allegedly had recorded Kuchma ordering Kravchenko to take care of the investigative reporter.
Kuchma has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has called the tapes a fabrication. Kuchma said Friday he was innocent "before God, before the people and before my conscience."
Asked about the apparent suicide, Kuchma said he "couldn't believe that Yury Kravchenko had done that."
Authorities say Kravchenko, who was found in his home with a gun in his hand, shot himself twice in the head.
"My loved ones. I am not guilty of anything," said a note found near him, according to Interior Minister Yury Lutsenko.
"Forgive me. I have become a victim of political intrigues of president Kuchma and his entourage. I am leaving you with a clear conscience. Goodbye," Ukrainska Pravda quoted Lutsenko as saying.
But Ukraine's press raised doubts that Kravchenko had committed suicide.
"Who benefits from Kravchenko's death" headlined daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, stating that the suicide "is not a proven fact."
Either Kravchenko had ordered Gongadze's killing or "his death was in the interest of several people, particularly those who are really behind the killing who do not want to be held responsible for the crime," the paper wrote.
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
‘NO INTEGRITY’: The chief judge expressed concern over how the sentence would be perceived given that military detention is believed to be easier than civilian prison A military court yesterday sentenced a New Zealand soldier to two years’ detention for attempting to spy for a foreign power. The soldier, whose name has been suppressed, admitted to attempted espionage, accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose and knowingly possessing an objectionable publication. He was ordered into military detention at Burnham Military Camp near Christchurch and would be dismissed from the New Zealand Defence Force at the end of his sentence. His admission and its acceptance by the court marked the first spying conviction in New Zealand’s history. The soldier would be paid at half his previous rate until his dismissal
RSS