Ukrainian Internal Affairs Minister Yuri Kravchenko finally appeared in parliament with his progress report in the case of the missing journalist Heorhy Gongadze, 20 days after his disappearance. The reader should recall that two weeks ago, when Verkhovna Rada demanded evidence from the law enforcement authorities handling the case, only deputies to the key figures at the Internal Affairs Ministry and Prosecutor’s Office appeared. Obviously, the public impact of the case has played its role as a catalyst, spurring the Ukrainian Law into special activity. After all, a noted Ukrainian journalist is still missing and the minister declared in parliament that the case is no longer a criminal but also a political one, and that is being closely followed by the international community. Hence the “unprecedented” scope of the police work currently underway.
Once again, General Kravchenko had to admit that there is actually no progress in the case. He noted that “a decision has been made, for the first time in the history of a criminal investigation, to allow Gongadze’s wife Myroslava and Ukrayinska pravda editor-in-chief Olena Prytula to take part in the investigative proceedings... I think that this decision will help foster a totally unbiased investigation into this case, relying on the principles of utmost confidence and transparency on the part of the law enforcement authorities.”
When asked by lawmakers why his name was mentioned in that anonymous phone call to the Georgian Embassy (the anonymous informer claimed Yuri Kravchenko was among the persons informed about Gongadze’s whereabouts —Author), he relied , “There are [political] scriptwriters that can profit by having my name included in the text.” He also told parliament that the Georgian Ambassador had issued a special note, following that anonymous phone call, expressing an apology for the unfounded information. Mr. Kravchenko stressed that the female embassy employee answering the call could speak neither Ukrainian nor Russian. “So you can judge for yourselves who can benefit from all this.” (It is still unclear, however, why the Georgian Ambassador’s note found no media coverage; the Ukrainian Internal Affairs Minister offered no comment on the subject.)
In response to further queries from the Solons, Mr. Kravchenko informed them that the owner of the green car, which had openly followed Gongadze this summer and then followed another opposition journalist, Oleh Yeltsov, had been identified. The minister declined comment on what was actually being done by way of investigation. He further denied that the militia and SBU had had anything to do with that green car. He confirmed that Gongadze’s professional activity could be a reason for his disappearance, but did not dwell on the existing versions being pursued by the investigating authorities. Instead, he dwelt on other possible reasons, among them one formulated as “vanishing of his own accord.” Mr. Kravchenko said it was true that Heorhy Gongadze had a debt to pay under a loan given to organize the Ukrayinska pravda Internet edition, and that he had liabilities due to an auto accident in Turkey this summer.
