Investigating corruption in Ukraine : a case study of Internet journalist Georgy Gongadze

Investigating Corruption in Ukraine gnitagitsevnI A Case Study of Internet Journalist ninoitpurroC Georgy Gongadze eniarkU i  Ukraine in Corruption Investigating ii  Contents gnitagitsevnI ninoitpurroC eniarkU iii Foreword ___________________________________________________________ v Chapter 1: Who's Who_________________________________________________ 1 Chapter 2: Chronology ________________________________________________ 3 Chapter 3: Press Freedom Environment in Ukraine ___________________________ 9 Chapter 4: Georgy Gongadze Enters the Danger Zone________________________ 15 Chapter 5: Gongadze Disappears ________________________________________ 19 Chapter 6: Headless Corpse Discovered___________________________________ 23 Chapter 7: The Melnychenko Tapes ______________________________________ 27 Chapter 8: Furor Rages Over Identity of Corpse ____________________________ 37 Chapter 9: Threats and Intimidation _____________________________________ 47 Chapter 10: Who Killed Gongadze? ______________________________________ 51 Chapter 11: Reflecting on Security Issues in Investigative Journalism ____________ 53 Annexes Annex A: Article in September, 11, 2000, edition of Ukrainska Pravda ________ 55 Annex B: July 14, 2000, Gongadze Letter to State Prosecutor Mykhaylo Potebenko ______________________________ 59 Annex C: Excerpts of the Melnychenko Tapes ___________________________ 61 Annex D: Testimony of Melnychenko to Parliamentary Deputies ____________ 67  Annex E: IPI Assessment of the Melnychenko Tapes ______________________ 75 Annex F: December 29, 2000, and January 9, 2001, Melnychenko Interviews ___ 81 Ukraine Annex G: President Kuchma's Letter to the Financial Times ________________ 93 in Annex H: RFE/RL Interview with President Kuchma _____________________ 95 Corruption Investigating iv  Foreword gnitagitsevnI ninoitpurroC eniarkU v The September 2000 disappearance and murder of the Internet journalist Georgy Gongadze highlighted once again the serious security threats faced by journalists investigating corruption. Whether it be the Ukraine or elsewhere in the developed or developing world, journalists run the risk of reprisal for seeking to uncover wrongdoing. In Ukraine, a major political crisis erupted when allegations emerged that the Ukraine president, Leonid Kuchma, and his presidential administration, may have ordered the killing. These allegations intensified when the President's office was accused of obstructing the investigation into the case. The disappearance of Gongadze and the manner in which the President's office led the investigation provides journalists in developing and transitional countries the opportunity to reflect on the issue of their own security when they seek to uncover corruption. Too often in these instances, part of the dynamic becomes your own government, which refuses to protect you or indeed even actively targets you. The purpose of this case study is to re-visit the Gongadze affair, and take a closer second look at a political scandal that shook Ukraine in the fall of 2000 and winter of 2001, and continued causing political tremors in 2002. The goal of the case study is to examine different challenges that journalists face when investigating corruption. The case study is comprised of eleven sections that examine different aspects of the Gongadze case and encourages you to evaluate how you conduct your own investigations. The study is meant for journalists to consider the Gongadze affair and reflect on their own security as investigative journalists, and think about the measures they should take to avoid personal harm.  Ukraine in Corruption Investigating vi  CHAPTER Who's Who 1 gnitagitsevnI ninoitpurroC eniarkU 1