Online Journalism News

Something rotten in the state of Ukraine?

UK government representatives and journalists gathered in London this week to hear the widow of a murdered Ukrainian web journalist demand justice for her husband's killers.

Speaking on 16 September - the third anniversary of Gyorgy Gongadze's death - Myroslava Gongadze told the story of her campaign to compel the Ukrainian government to resolve the murder.

"Hearing the speakers here tonight has brought back the memory of that night. I was at home with my two children and it was very hard to find out what had happened. And very difficult to admit the worst," she said.

"I have had a huge amount of international support but nothing from the Ukrainian authorities."

Gyorgy Gongadze was editor of news web site Ukrainska Pravda and was investigating corruption in the Ukrainian government. He disappeared on 16 September 2000 and his decapitated body was later found in a ditch in a suburb of Kiyv.

An audio tape released by President Leonid Kuchma's bodyguard appeared to document the President and senior ministers plotting to harm Mr Gongadze. In July this year, a key witness - author of a number of letters providing crucial evidence to the case - died in police custody.

Ms Gongadze, herself a journalist, has campaigned tirelessly since her husband's murder, building a powerful body of international support.

Dr Denis MacShane, UK government minister for Europe, told the group that as a former NUJ president and journalist, he is personally committed to the case.

"The murder of Gyorgy Gongadze is a heinous crime and the UK government wants this case cleared up," he said.

In a speech at the Mhyla Institute in Kiyv on the previous day, he said that Ukraine's application to join both the EU and NATO will be influenced by the resolution of the case.

"It is one of the admission criteria to the EU that journalistic norms must be respected," he said.

"The strongest protection that a free media has is the assurance of the rule of law. It is absolutely fundamental that Mr Gongadze's killers are found."

The internet is not as established in the Ukraine as it is elsewhere in Europe, but it is crucial in providing an independent and critical view on national events.

Alla Lazareva, from Kiyv's Institute for Mass Information, told the audience that Mr Gongadze's murder was just one in a series of journalists' deaths in the Ukraine.

"One of these suspicious deaths was an apparent car crash which, despite being in the middle of nowhere, was recorded on video by two different people," she said.

"Those close to the president say that he did not want to kill Gyorgy Gongadze, but we have no doubt that at the very least he has influenced the investigation."

See also:
http://www.londonfreelance.org/gongadze/
http://www.pravda.com.ua
http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=1939&Language=EN
http://www.nuj.org.uk

Denis MacShane profile:
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,,-3816.html

Tags (click tag to find related articles; click icon for feed):
london | europe | european union | united kingdom | person communication and meetings | html | ukraine | news web site | uk government | north atlantic treaty organization | the third anniversary of gyorgy gongadzes death | apparent car crash | free media | ukrainian government | kiyvs institute for mass information | mhyla institute | gyorgy gongadze | denis macshane | myroslava gongadze | alla lazareva | leonid kuchma |

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