As the nation honored the memory of the murdered journalist Heorhii Gongadze, former president Leonid Kuchma was handing out scholarships to students. Why would such an incongruity draw public attention? Because according to the First Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Renat Kuzmin, “there is enough evidence to prove Kuchma’s involvement in this crime.”
“Five gifted students of the Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University were awarded the Leonid Kuchma scholarships for achievements in study and for active participation in the university’s artistic activities,” informs the Crimean website qha.com.ua. The fact that this event took place on September 17, the day of the 13th anniversary of Gongadze’s murder, adds a particular cynicism to it.
“I have been to the Simferopol Engineering and Pedagogical University… It is very interesting. They preserve the memory about Hryhorenko, Stus… But doesn’t it impose any obligations? I must admit, I was surprised when I learned about the meeting with the former president. Of course, he could not care less, but… Perhaps, not everyone knows, or maybe they forgot. Anyway, people need to think who they can take money from, especially young people. Because they are just used as cover-up…” wrote The Day’s editor-in-chief Larysa IVSHYNA on her Facebook page.
Of course, so much has been written and said on the subject that it would be improper to talk about the lack of information about the Gongadze case. In this situation, it is important to not only know the truth, but not to be tempted by “sponsorship” of any type, since Kuchma’s scholarships are actions aimed at the whitewashing of the former president’s reputation. By the way, we can also mention here Kuchma’s spin doctors “ordering” custom-made articles, films, and even Yalta Forum, which began its work recently.
But it is not only Kuchma’s clan that is working in this field. There are people who do their best to spread the truth about the crimes committed during Kuchma’s presidency, to spread it to the extent when it will be hard to ignore by those, who, for example, receive Kuchma’s scholarships (by the way, they were given out not only to the Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University students). These days Oleksii PODOLSKY, public activist and journalist, aggrieved in the Gongadze case, made a sensational statement.
“I know that after not receiving an answer from the Foreign Minister of Ukraine Leonid Kozhara (see Den No. 81, May 16, 2013), the US Helsinki Commission wrote a letter to the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych,” said Podolsky on Tuesday during the show “Separate Opinion” on the TVi channel. “If Kozhara cannot reply to Americans, they will address the president. The letter is about the notorious cases of Oleksandr Yeliashkevych, Oleksii Podolsky, and Heorhii Gongadze. There is a great interest in having these cases investigated.”
At the same time, Podolsky expressed doubt about the awareness of the president about the letter. “We know that there is a tradition in the president’s administration not to always report information, or report it in a wrong way. We see that except paying off Western politicians and Ukrainian journalists, Kuchma’s family has found its way into the presidential administration. I have an impression that the president does not know about the letter’s existence. On the other hand, I would like to see those people who did not report to him about the letter, when the Americans will ask him why he never replied, and he would not even know what to say.”
And one more piece of news. Unlike the Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University, members of the Chernihiv Oblast Council demonstrated a better awareness. These days they refused to award former president Kuchma and former head of the Vekhovna Rada Ivan Pliushch with titles of honorary citizens of the oblast, informs Ukrainian News. Instead, they awarder this title to the former prime minister Vitalii Masol. In the course of discussion, legislator Yaroslav Demchenkov (Batkivshchyna) reminded of Kuchma’s role in the journalist Gongadze case, but MP Valentyn Melnychuk (group For Chernihiv Oblast) retorted that the former president’s guilt was not proven in court. But the latter’s arguments did not help anyway.
