NEWSBRIEFS (01/21/01)

NEWSBRIEFS

Rada discusses freedom of expression

KYIV - Parliament Chairman Ivan Pliusch on January 16 called on lawmakers to find a "different approach" to the media sphere in Ukraine in order to eliminate censorship. National Deputy Oleksander Zinchenko said the authorities apply "political censorship" in both nationwide and regional media and "manipulate public opinion" through the state-controlled media. Ihor Lubchenko, head of the National Union of Journalists, told the Verkhovna Rada that Ukrainian journalists live with the fear that they may be beaten or even murdered for their professional activities. Communist Deputy Borys Oliinyk said a majority of Ukrainian media outlets either depend on the authorities or "serve the [oligarchic] clans." Socialist Deputy Oleksander Moroz said honest journalists are a threat to the authorities, adding that there will be no freedom of expression in Ukraine without changing the current ruling regime. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Gongadze's mother complains of pressure

KYIV - Lesia Gongadze, mother of missing journalist Heorhii Gongadze, told the Verkhovna Rada on January 16 that she is being pressured "to agree immediately to the burial of the body" found near Kyiv last year and believed to be her son's. "But I am the mother and want to know whose corpse I am burying," she added. Mrs. Gongadze called for an additional examination of the body in order to establish the cause of her son's death. (RFE/RL Newsline)

PACE pledges to help evaluate tapes

KYIV - Hanne Severinsen, a rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), pledged PACE's help in making an expert evaluation of the "Moroz tapes," which caused a political scandal in Ukraine by implicating President Leonid Kuchma in the disappearance of Heorhii Gongadze. "If it turns out that these tapes are authentic, you will have a Watergate in Ukraine," Ms. Severinsen said, adding that PACE will find an institution to evaluate the original tapes made by Mr. Kuchma's former bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko. The same day, Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz said Mr. Melnychenko had eavesdropped on President Kuchma for a total of 300 hours. Mr. Melnychenko told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on January 9 that he has taped "dozens of people" in the president's office, adding that those persons can confirm the authenticity of the tapes. Procurator General Mykhailo Potebenko told the Verkhovna Rada the previous day that Mr. Melnychenko's recordings are doctored. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Potebenko refuses to accept tapes

KYIV - Mykhailo Potebenko on January 12 said the tapes recorded by Kuchma's former bodyguard, Mykola Melnychenko, in the presidential office and made public by Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz cannot be accepted as evidence in the disappearance case of journalist Heorhii Gongadze, Interfax reported. Mr. Potebenko added that even if international experts confirm the authenticity of the tapes, the Procurator General's Office will not accept them as evidence since they were obtained in an illegal way. According to Mr. Potebenko, Ukraine's legislation allows material to be accepted as evidence only if it was "obtained in a legal way and by appropriate bodies that are authorized to gather information." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yulia Tymoshenko is indicted

KYIV - The Procurator General's Office on January 15 formally charged Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko with smuggling Russian gas out of Ukraine with the use of forged documents and for evading taxes. The charges relate to the period in 1996-1997 when Ms. Tymoshenko headed the Unified Energy Systems of Ukraine. Prosecutors placed travel restrictions on Ms. Tymoshenko, preventing her from leaving Kyiv without permission. They linked Ms. Tymoshenko's case with that of former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, who is accused of large-scale theft and money-laundering. "This is a political reprisal," Ms. Tymoshenko commented on the charges, adding that they are "a part of the plans of those clans who want to limit my actions aimed at establishing order in Ukraine," Interfax reported. She said she has sued Procurator General Mykhailo Potebenko because "he is breaking the law and practically destroying people by decree." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Investigators question Tymoshenko

KYIV - Last week investigators twice interrogated Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is in charge of Ukraine's fuel and energy sector. The Procurator General's Office has charged Ms. Tymoshenko with gas smuggling, document forgery and major tax evasion during her previous job as head of the Unified Energy Systems of Ukraine. Ms. Tymoshenko told the January 13 issue of Zerkalo Nedeli that the charges against her are "absolute nonsense." However, she added that she is expecting her arrest any moment. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko has warned against politicizing Ms. Tymoshenko's case, adding that she is "a Ukrainian Cabinet member [whose case] should be approached with utmost transparency and under appropriate public control." Many in Ukraine believe that the case against Ms. Tymoshenko was opened to divert the public spotlight from the scandal implicating President Leonid Kuchma in the disappearance of an independent journalist. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv reports healthy economic growth

KYIV - Natalia Zarudna, Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko's spokesperson, told Interfax on January 16 that Ukraine's gross domestic product in 2000 grew by 6 percent compared to the previous year. Ms. Zarudna added that last year agricultural production increased by 7.6 percent compared to 1999, the first growth registered in the agricultural sector since Ukraine declared independence in 1991. Ukraine's industrial production rose by 12.9 percent compared with the previous year. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada may vote on referendum bill

KYIV - Verkhovna Rada First Vice-Chairman Viktor Medvedchuk said he thinks that a bill on the implementation of the April 16, 2000, constitutional referendum should be considered by the Parliament on January 18, Interfax reported. Last July the Rada passed a resolution to incorporate the referendum results into the country's Constitution during the current parliamentary session, which ends on January 19. "There is no need to waste time and hinder this process," Mr. Medvedchuk noted. Meanwhile, Vice Prime Minister Mykola Zhulynskyi has said he foresees the Parliament's "voluntary dissolution" because lawmakers are incapable of "fulfilling the people's will," meaning the implementation of the referendum, the Eastern Economist Daily reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

SBU denies pressure on RFE/RL

KYIV - The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has denied that its employees are pressuring Radio Liberty journalists in order to influence RFE/RL coverage of developments in Ukraine, Interfax reported on January 15. The SBU's denial seems to be in response to RFE/RL President Thomas Dine's recent statement on the SBU's activities vis-à-vis RFE/RL. "In recent days, people claiming to be Ukrainian intelligence officers have approached members of our Ukrainian Service and threatened reprisals against them and those who rebroadcast our programming in Ukraine if the service does not modify its coverage of Ukrainian political developments," Mr. Dine said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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