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Alert

Decapitated corpse found, could be that of journalist missing since September

(RSF/IFEX) - In a letter to President Leonid Kuchma, RSF expressed its "revulsion" following the discovery of a decapitated corpse and a skull which may be the remains of journalist Georgy Gongadze, who disappeared on 16 September 2000. RSF had earlier written to the Ukrainian president expressing concern for the journalist. "Though the discovered human remains have yet to be definitively identified, we fear that, once again, the search for the truth will prove to be very difficult," said Robert Ménard, the organisation's secretary-general. "We remind you that Georgy Gongadze was the target of intimidation by police services in the weeks prior to his disappearance. It is henceforth your responsibility to ensure that light is shed on this terrible case," added Ménard.




According to information collected by RSF, a decapitated corpse and a mutilated skull were found in November in the Taraschanskyi region, close to Kiev, which may be the remains of journalist Gongadze. Founder and editor-in-chief of the Internet site www.pravda.com.ua, an online newspaper which is very critical of the authorities, Gongadze, 31, disappeared on 16 September, as his wife and two daughters were waiting for him at home. In the weeks prior to his disappearance, the journalist was interrogated on several occasions by police in the context of a criminal investigation. In a recent letter to the state prosecutor, he had denounced what he considered to be "a premeditated intimidation tactic designed to frighten me or end my activities." He published articles on his website which denounced the corruption of certain high-level Ukrainian officials.

The forensic test results will not be available for a month. According to journalistic colleagues of Gongadze who were present during the initial examinations of the body, several factors - such as traces of a past injury - lend themselves to the belief that the found remains are indeed those of Gongadze.

RSF recalled that threats directed at journalists have multiplied in recent months in Ukraine. On 15 September, Oleg Yeltsov, an independent journalist, claimed to have received a number of anonymous telephone threats. The caller criticised him for articles "which disturb some very influential people." The anonymous caller added: "You are next on the list." The next day, Mykola Severyn, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Rakours", which has been very critical of the municipal administration in the city of Lugansk, was struck on the head and hospitalised. Last April, Oleg Liachko, editor-in-chief of the weekly "Svoboda", was assaulted and threatened following the publication of articles which were critical of the secret services (see IFEX alerts of 14 and 7 April 2000). Several journalists have recently reported assaults. "The way in which violence has become an everyday feature of life for journalists in Ukraine is unacceptable and contravenes Ukraine's international and European commitments," said RSF's secretary-general.