Ukraine's ex-interior minister found dead
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-04 17:15

Ukraine's former interior minister was found dead Friday, just before he was due to meet with prosecutors for questioning about the 2000 slaying of an investigative journalist, officials said.

Yuri Kravchenko had been accused by opposition political forces of being involved in the killing of Heorhiy Gongadze, who investigated corruption at the highest levels of the Ukrainian government.

Yuri Kravchenko, then Ukraine's Interior Minister, is seen in his office in Kiev in this 2000 file photo. [AP]

Inna Kisel, a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry, said Kravchenko appeared to have committed suicide. She referred all other questions to officials at the General Prosecutor's Office. A spokesman there said he had no immediate information.

Kravchenko had been summoned to give testimony Friday morning about Gongadze's death.

Gongadze was abducted in Kiev in September 2000, and his decapitated body was found months later buried in a forest outside the capital. His death sparked months of protests against former President Leonid Kuchma, who the opposition alleged was involved in the killing. Kuchma has denied any involvement.

The allegations against Kuchma were based on recordings that a former presidential bodyguard said were secretly made in Kuchma's office. In the tapes, Kuchma was overheard repeatedly complaining about Gongadze's reporting and ordering Kravchenko to "drive him out, throw (him) out, give him to the Chechens."

Volodymyr Lytvyn, Kuchma's former chief-of-staff, was also allegedly heard on the tapes saying: "In my opinion, let loose Kravchenko to use alternative methods."

Kuchma and his circle have disputed the authenticity of the tapes. Lytvyn has dismissed the allegations in an earlier interview with The Associated Press, saying: "I wasn't brought up that way." He said Thursday he was ready to testify in connection with the case.

Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun said Wednesday that investigators had identified all four people involved in Gongadze's slaying and knew who the mastermind was. He refused to identify the person who ordered the killing.

Two of the suspected killers were in custody, one was under orders not to leave Kiev and the fourth, a senior police official, was on an international wanted list, Piskun said. All were employed by Ukraine's Interior Ministry.

Ukraine's Segodnya newspaper reported that Kravchenko had been put under official surveillance in December.

President Viktor Yushchenko, who was elected in December, has said that it was a top task and moral obligation of his government to solve Gongadze's killing.

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