NEWSBRIEFS (10/10/04)

NEWSBRIEFS

Police probe egg attack on PM

KYIV - The Ukrainian Internal Affairs Ministry on October 2 reported that it had found two hard objects, a metal ball with a diameter of 1 centimeter and a stone with a diameter of 5 centimeters, which might have been used in an attack on Prime Minister and presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych in Ivano-Frankivsk on September 24, Ukrainian media reported. According to the Internal Affairs Ministry, Mr. Yanukovych was attacked by several "hard objects." A video of the attack, which was shown on Ukraine's Channel 5 and major European news channels, appeared to show Mr. Yanukovych being hit only by a raw egg. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko's wife to apply for citizenship

KYIV - Kateryna Chumachenko, the wife of presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, told the Kyiv-based weekly Zerkalo Nedeli of October 2-8 that she is planning to apply for Ukrainian citizenship within the next few days. She said her husband's political opponents are using her U.S. citizenship to suggest that she may be a U.S. spy and that she constitutes a "national security threat" in Ukraine. Ms. Chumachenko's parents, were born in Ukraine, met in Germany during World War II and got married in 1945. They subsequently emigrated to the United States. Ms. Chumachenko has been living permanently in Kyiv since 1999. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko wants end to speculation

KYIV - Our Ukraine leader and presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, who went on September 30 to the Rudolfinerhaus hospital in Vienna for medical tests, has called on the Ukrainian press to stop speculating about his health and "manipulation with diagnoses," Interfax reported on September 30. Mr. Yushchenko instructed his associates to pass all official records of his illness to the ad hoc parliamentary commission, which was set up on September 21, the day he accused the authorities of trying to poison him. Mr. Yushchenko's official website (http://www.yuschenko.com.ua) published an official medical report provided to him by Rudolfinerhaus on September 16, when he left the hospital after a weeklong treatment. The report says Mr. Yushchenko's condition may have been caused by "a viral infection or, possibly, chemical substances that usually are not contained in food products." Rudolfinerhaus subsequently stated that its doctors have not confirmed or ruled out Mr. Yushchenko's poisoning, while Yushchenko's presidential rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, demanded a public apology from Mr. Yushchenko for his allegations. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... and sues PM's spokesperson

KYIV - Viktor Yushchenko has filed a lawsuit with a district court in Kyiv, accusing Prime Minister Yanukovych's spokeswoman, Hanna Herman, of libeling him and his bloc, Our Ukraine, Ukrainian news agencies reported on October 1. Following an egg attack on Mr. Yanukovych in Ivano-Frankivsk on September 24, Ms. Herman issued a statement accusing Our Ukraine adherents of being behind the incident. Moreover, Mr. Yushchenko sued lawmaker Oleksander Koloniari from the pro-government Regions of Ukraine caucus, for slander. Commenting on the attack on Mr. Yanukovych, Mr. Koloniari reportedly said in the Verkhovna Rada on September 24: "Mr. Yushchenko and Our Ukrainians! You have brought up a band of nationalist jerks." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Marchuk promises info on tapes

KYIV - Yevhen Marchuk, who was unexpectedly fired two weeks ago from the post of defense minister by President Leonid Kuchma, said on Channel 5 television on September 29 that "sensational data" will be made public "soon" regarding the secret recordings made by presidential bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko in Kuchma's office in 2000, Interfax reported. "There will be a sensational variant to keep up some versions [of the Melnychenko case] of a provocative character, which will overshadow all other events," Mr. Marchuk said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Roman Catholics seek return of church

KYIV - Roman Catholics of Kyiv led their fourth prayerful demonstration for the return of the Church of St. Nicholas in Kyiv. The gathering took place on September 28 near the building of Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers. Despite numerous promises the government has made to the Catholics, there has been no progress in the matter, the Catholic Media Center reported. According to the organizers, the prayer meeting was a peaceful protest against a historical wrong, which, the Roman Catholics of Kyiv hope the government will right. On December 31, 2003, Ukrainian Radio reported that the Church of St. Nicholas would be returned to the faithful. In February and March of this year, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma informed Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, then apostolic nuncio to Ukraine, about his intentions to return the church to the parish. To this day, however, this has not happened. The Church of St. Nicholas was built in the late 19th-early 20th centuries, at the initiative of the Roman Catholic community of Kyiv. In Soviet times, the building was used as a store-room, archives, and KGB torture chambers. In 1979, the government let the church become a hall for organ and chamber music. After the collapse of the communist regime in the 1990s and following the faithfuls' repeated requests, the government allowed church services to be held there: at first on the stairs in front of the church, then inside the building since 1992. That same year, the Roman Catholics were promised to get the church back in three-years' time. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Kuchma visits Babyn Yar memorial

KYIV - Early on September 29 Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma laid flowers at the monument to the victims of Nazism in Babyn Yar. The solemn ceremony was attended also by Vice Prime Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk, the first deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Adam Martyniuk, Kyiv Mayor Oleksander Omelchenko, government officials and national deputies. They commemorated the more than 150,000 dead, Jews, Ukrainians and others, with a minute's silence. (BBC Monitoring, Action Ukraine Report)

Belarus Democracy Act is passed

WASHINGTON - The U.S. House of Representatives on October 4 unanimously passed the Belarus Democracy Act, a bill designed to promote democratic development, human rights and the rule of law in Belarus, as well as encourage the consolidation and strengthening of Belarus's sovereignty and independence, the U.S. Helsinki Commission reported on October 5. The Senate unanimously passed the bill on October 6. The bill authorizes necessary assistance for democracy-building activities such as support for non-governmental organizations, independent media, including radio and television broadcasting into Belarus, and international exchanges. "With important parliamentary elections and a questionable referendum to extend [Belarusian President Alyaksandr] Lukashenka's rule beyond his two-term tenure set to expire in 2006, the United States has demonstrated our unwavering support for pro-democracy forces in Belarus," said Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.), chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission. "With passage of the Belarus Democracy Act, we send a strong signal that we stand firmly on the side of those who long for freedom." (RFE/RL Newsline)

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