NEWSBRIEFS (09/22/02)

NEWSBRIEFS

Kuchma refuses to meet with opposition

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has turned down a proposal to meet opposition activists who apparently intend to take advantage of the opportunity to hand him the resolution of the September 16 protest rally in Kyiv demanding his resignation, the UNIAN news service reported on September 18, quoting opposition lawmaker Anatolii Matvienko. Presidential administration chief Viktor Medvedchuk reportedly told Mr. Matvienko that Mr. Kuchma considers the resolution insulting and, therefore, cannot meet with opposition representatives. Meanwhile, Kyiv prosecutors have initiated criminal proceeding against the organizers of the September 16 rally on charges of impeding city traffic. Tents from the dismantled tent camp around the presidential-administration building have been impounded by police as evidence. Kyiv police chief Petro Opanasenko said police found a grenade and two sawed-off shotguns in one of the tents. Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz responded that these weapons were deliberately planted by police to add to charges against the opposition. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Opposition pledges to continue protests

KYIV - Socialist Party parliamentarian Yurii Lutsenko told journalists on September 17 that the opposition will organize a "powerful demonstration" on European Square in Kyiv on September 24 in response to the dismantling of the opposition tent camp, UNIAN reported. Mr. Lutsenko added that until that day, Yulia Tymoshenko, Oleksander Moroz and Petro Symonenko will hold smaller street rallies in Kyiv every day to "gather people" for the September 24 demonstration against President Leonid Kuchma. Meanwhile, Our Ukraine lawmaker Taras Chornovil said the same day that Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko has joined the opposition for good. The previous day Mr. Yushchenko had participated in the anti-Kuchma rally in Kyiv and signed a strongly worded resolution demanding President Kuchma's resignation. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Court bans September 16 rally ...

KYIV - A local court in Kyiv on September 12 complied with the request of the Kyiv city administration to prohibit the planned opposition rally on European Square in Kyiv on September 16, UNIAN reported. The court said the rally might disrupt the city's daily routine by provoking "mass violations of the public order" and added that opposition parties could move their protest to a sports complex outside the capital. The judge said the verdict is not subject to appeal. Kyiv Mayor Oleksander Omelchenko said on September 13 that the city administration will take every measure to implement the ban. The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, the Socialist Party and the Communist Party have planned to inaugurate the "Rise Up, Ukraine!" nationwide anti-presidential campaign with the September 16 rally in Kyiv. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... but organizers pledge to proceed

KYIV - Quoting from a joint statement by the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, the Socialist Party, and the Communist Party, Socialist Party lawmaker Ivan Bokyi said in the Verkhovna Rada on September 13 that the "Rise Up, Ukraine" protest campaign will take place "under any circumstances." The statement stated that the protesters will be armed only with "[our] words and the constitution, and if the authorities resort to provocations and pogroms, they will be fully responsible [for that]." Mr. Bokyi told the Verkhovna Rada that President Leonid Kuchma plans to "run away" from Ukraine on September 16. The presidential administration announced the previous day that Mr. Kuchma will take part in an economic forum in Salzburg, Austria, on September 15-17. Meanwhile, Yosyp Vinskyi from the Socialist Party told journalists that the opposition will appeal against the ban to the Kyiv Appeals Court on September 16. According to Mr. Vinskyi, an appeal to a higher-instance court automatically suspends the relevant verdict of a lower-instance court. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Piskun: Gongadze case a complex murder

KYIV - Procurator General Sviatoslav Piskun on September 14 confirmed for the first time officially that the murder of Internet journalist Heorhii Gongadze in 2000 was politically motivated, Interfax reported. "This was not an ordinary murder, this was a very complex murder," Mr. Piskun said. "It is camouflaged. It was a political killing that was contracted." Mr. Piskun announced that a team of U.S. experts will arrive in Ukraine in a week to help investigate the Gongadze case. He also said that the Procurator General's Office will conduct an examination, with the participation of international experts, of the tape recordings made by former presidential security service officer Mykola Melnychenko's tape recordings from President Leonid Kuchma's office. Mr. Piskun noted that Ukrainian investigators have evidence that some of the Melnychenko tapes were doctored. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Forum focuses on Ukraine's crisis ...

KYIV - More than 1,200 delegates from some 50 political parties and organizations participated in a two-day forum "For Democratic Development of Ukraine" that was organized in Kyiv on September 14-15 by Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine, UNIAN reported. Mr. Yushchenko told the forum that Our Ukraine proposes five steps to overcome the current political and socioeconomic crisis in the country: creating a parliamentary majority without interference from the presidential administration; forming a coalition Cabinet; signing a trilateral accord on joint actions by the president, the Parliament and the government; abolishing media censorship and lifting the information blockade against the opposition; and establishing dialogue between the authorities and society. Mr. Yushchenko said he believes the authorities will move toward a dialogue with society. He commented that the current Verkhovna Rada has the largest "democratic potential" in comparison with other legislatures in Ukraine's 11 years of independence. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... cites gravitation toward dictatorship

KYIV - In a political resolution signed by 42 parties and organizations, the democratic forum stated that the current Ukrainian power system "is inefficient, non-transparent, unstable and gravitates toward dictatorship," UNIAN reported. Even harsher assessments were voiced by political leaders addressing the forum. "The behavior of the authorities in 2002 actually does not differ from that in 1970 - only the Political Bureau of the Communist Party is now called the presidential administration," Ukrainian National Rukh leader Yurii Kostenko said. "Ukraine is heading toward dictatorship, the state is facing the threat of losing its sovereignty," National Rukh of Ukraine head Hennadii Udovenko warned. Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz appealed to the forum to adopt a resolution on joining the protest campaign "Rise Up, Ukraine!" but the forum did not heed him. (RFE/RL Newsline)

1,000 delegates expected at forum

KYIV - Our Ukraine anticipated that more than 1,000 delegates would take part in its democratic forum in Kyiv on September 14-15, UNIAN reported on September 11, quoting Our Ukraine lawmaker Oleh Rybachuk. Rybachuk said invitations to participate in the forum have been sent to parliamentarians, regional councilors and organizations, including 62 political parties. President Leonid Kuchma was invited as a delegate to the forum, while Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh, Cabinet ministers and regional administration heads were asked to participate as guests. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President explains his absence

KYIV - In a special message read at the democratic forum on September 15, President Leonid Kuchma said he was absent because his invitation was formulated in the "tone of an ultimatum," UNIAN reported. Mr. Kuchma said he was invited as late as September 13, adding that the invitation did not include either a program of the forum or a list of participants. "[Such an invitation] for dialogue with the head of state elected by the whole nation contradicts the practice used in civilized countries," Mr. Kuchma said. Simultaneously, the president stressed that he is ready for dialogue and pledged to study attentively proposals voiced at the forum. Participants in the forum began to chant "Down with Kuchma!" after the president's message was read. Mr. Kuchma was attending an economic forum in Salzburg, Austria, that opened on September 15. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yuschchenko signs declaration on majority

KYIV - Our Ukraine leader Yushchenko signed a declaration on September 15 with the leaders of four parliamentary groups - Party of Entrepreneurs-Labor Ukraine (led by Serhii Tyhypko), Democratic Initiatives (Stepan Havrysh), Ukraine's Agrarians (Kateryna Vaschuk) and the National Democratic Party (Anatolii Tolstoukhov) - on creating a democratic majority in the Verkhovna Rada, the UNIAN news service reported. The five parliamentary groups control some 200 votes in the 449-member Verkhovna Rada. Mr. Tyhypko told the agency that Raisa Bohatyrova, the leader of Ukraine's Region's (37 deputies), also will sign the declaration. "We will pursue the goal of creating a majority until the end, since otherwise we will have to take to the streets," Mr. Tyhypko added. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko, Lytvyn confer on majority

KYIV - Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko and Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn met on September 11 to discuss the creation of a parliamentary majority that could run a coalition government, UNIAN reported. Their meeting was reportedly attended by Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the opposition Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc. Mr. Yushchenko refused to meet with representatives of the so-called "nine" - comprising nine pro-presidential parliamentary groups. Mr. Yushchenko said he "had the impression" that Mr. Lytvyn understood Our Ukraine's position regarding the formation of a parliamentary majority. He added that no democratic majority will be created if Our Ukraine is presented with "ultimatums." (RFE/RL Newsline)

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