Interfax Ukraine reports that Verkhovna Rada passed a resolution at its last Thursday morning sitting, recommending that President Kuchma dismiss Leonid Derkach, Chief of the SBU (Security Service), and Yuri Solovkov, Head of the State Customs Service, immediately
That same day, parliament held a special session to hear information on the case of missing journalist Heorhy Gongadze, attended by Internal Affairs Minister Yuri Kravchenko and General Prosecutor Mykhailo Potebenko. Oleksandr Lavrynovych, head of the ad hoc parliamentary committee of inquiry, informed lawmakers of the committee’s progress. Parliament voted for the demonstration of a videotape with SBU officer Mykola Melnychenko, submitted by Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz to the committee on December 13.
It was the second videocassette played in Parliament. SBU Major Mykola Melnychenko declared that President Kuchma had ordered an act of terrorism against presidential candidate Natalia Vitrenko, meant to politically destroy Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz.
Melnychenko went on to testify that while on duty he happened to learn about the said order, and that General Prosecutor Mykhailo Potebenko “carries out President Kuchma’s unlawful instructions.”
Major Melnychenko stated that the presidential elections in the fall of 1999 and the Ukrainian referendum to make changes in the Constitution April 2000 were rigged on orders from President Leonid Kuchma.
He also claimed that journalist Heorhy Gongadze was kidnapped by a special Ministry of Internal Affairs commando unit.
Immediately after the showing of the videocassette, Prosecutor General Mykhailo Potebenko declared that the video cassettes with Major Melnychenko and people’s deputies are a forgery.
Internal Affairs Minister Yuri Kravchenko stated that he had never received any instructions concerning journalist Heorhy Gongadze from President Kuchma, and that he himself had never issued such orders.
SBU Chief Leonid Derkach announced that the videocassette with the President’s conversations is a fake and that any actions like the unauthorized eavesdropping on any of the government communication channels are illegal. UNIAN quotes him as saying that “every basically educated specialist knows that getting information from communication channels to record conversations any top official’s premises is out of the question for technical, organizations, and physical reasons.” Leonid Derkach added that “resigning and thus defending my honor would be incorrect.”
Roman Kupchynsky, director of Radio Liberty’s Ukrainian Service, told Interfax Ukraine also on Thursday that he had been contacted by the current SBU leadership and “requested” his station be more objective in covering the situation with the audiocassettes allegedly incriminating President Leonid Kuchma as having been involved with the murder of journalist Heorhy Gongadze.
In response to accusations of unbiased coverage, Mr. Kupchynsky said, “We have more than once invited the president’s press secretary, (Presidential Representative in Parliament) Roman Bezsmertny, and (Head of the Presidential Administration) Lytvyn to our studio, and each time we invited them we had to tell our listeners that they were not present in the studio. We did everything in a comprehensive manner; we did not want be a mouthpiece for either side. We are open to one and all.”
When asked whether Radio Liberty had experienced any pressure from the SBU and Ukrainian authorities in general, Kupchynsky replied, “No, we haven’t. I know that the president is displeased at some of our programs, particularly those dealing with corruption, but no, there has been no pressure.”
Simultaneously, Interfax Ukraine reported that the President of Ukraine is philosophical about the scandalous declarations made in Verkhovna Rada.
“Every day in the President’s life is a trial,” Mr. Kuchma told journalists in Chornobyl, commenting on what was going on in parliament.
When asked whether he will grant the Verkhovna Rada request that Ukraine’s spy-master-in-chief Leonid Derkach and publican-in-chief Yuri Solovkov be fired, the President reminded that he had instructed General Prosecutor Mykhailo Potebenko to investigate the issue, and that he would make his final conclusion relying on the findings provided by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
