Before the verdict to former general Oleksii Pukach was pronounced, we asked Heorhii Gongadze’s widow Myroslava to answer several questions.
Myroslava, the verdict to Oleksii Pukach will be pronounced on January 29. What court ruling do you expect? What sentence would suit you?
“Lifelong imprisonment to Pukach is the only fair sentence that will suit me. Sure, we will demand punishment for those who ordered the crime. Pukash said in no uncertain terms that Kravchenko, Lytvyn, and Kuchma were the perpetrators. Unfortunately, the court refused to satisfy the solicitation of the aggrieved persons and subpoena the abovementioned persons, which I see as the court’s reluctance to find out the real motives of the crime. No matter what, the former general of militia Pukach, who strangled Heorgii and cut off his head to cover up the tracks, must face the utmost penalty.”
In a commentary to The Day the aggrieved person Oleksii Podolsky said that he urged politicians, public persons, businessmen, and journalists to boycott the events organized by the Kuchma family (in particular, at Davos forum and Yalta conference). What is your attitude to this?
“I would urge to do the same, but, unfortunately, these people today remain great levers of influence. And our so-called opposition visits the events they organize, legitimizing them in such a way. These are present-day realia. The absurd of Ukrainian life consists in the fact that Kuchma, accused of ordering the murder, continues to make trips to Europe, whereas Lutsenko and Tymoshenko are behind the bars, and this has become a norm of Ukrainian life.”
The sentence to Pukach will hardly settle the situation with the Gongadze case. Can there be any real solution to the problem? When may it be found?
“I don’t know when everyone involved in the murder will be punished, but I am sure it may take 12 years of struggle.”
