The former interior minister was found dead in his home Friday, an apparent suicide
Published:
5 March 2005 y., Saturday
The former interior minister was found dead in his home Friday, an apparent suicide, just before he was to be questioned about the 2000 slaying of an investigative journalist, dealing a blow to an inquiry that could implicate the former president.
Former Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko suffered two gunshot wounds to the head, a TV station reported he left a note blaming his suicide on former President Leonid Kuchma "and his entourage," and the journalist's widow suggested it was all part of a cover-up to protect "the old regime."
President Viktor Yushchenko, who has made solving the murder of journalist Heoriy Gongadze a moral obligation for his new administration, ordered the current interior minister and prosecutor general to take over the investigation.
Kravchenko, 53, had been implicated in organizing the killing of Gongadze, who wrote about top-level corruption under Kuchma.
The killing of Gongadze - who was found decapitated in a forest outside the capital in 2000 - sparked months of protests against Kuchma. The opposition alleged Kuchma ordered the killing.
Kuchma again denied any involvement Friday.
"Before God, before people, before my conscience, I'm clean," Kuchma told reporters at a spa resort in the Czech Republic. He said he would return home Saturday and was prepared to talk to prosecutors, Czech and Ukrainian TV reported.
Interior Ministry spokeswoman Inna Kisel said Kravchenko's death "appears to be a suicide." He died at his country residence outside Kiev.
Šaltinis:
thestate.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The twentieth anniversary of the Baltic Way was commemorated in Tokyo.
more »
After an emotional funeral service in Boston and a 90-minute flight from Massachusetts, the flag-draped casket holding Edward Kennedy arrived by motorcade in Washington, D.C. for a final visit to the U.S. Capitol Building, the political home for the senior Senator of Massachusetts for almost half a century.
more »
Mike Perham has become the youngest person to sail single handedly round the world. It's also the dream of another teenager in the Netherlands.
more »
Whenever its member countries are hit by natural disasters, the EU steps in to help coordinate assistance and fund the reconstruction of essential infrastructure.
more »
Inside this tiny house in central Cuba a woman rekindles old fashioned romance in a modern age. Liudmila Quincose writes love letters for a living.
more »
A traditional drum beat opens the 2009 World Karate Championships in Japan.
more »
Scientists are investigating the death of about 300 sea lions on the coast of Chile.
more »
Carmen Valverde and her dog Tomas were out for a walk in their Lima, Peru neighborhood when Tomas was snatched from her side.
more »
It was never going to be a quiet affair when Lance Armstrong put out an invitation on twitter for fans to join him on a bike ride around a Scottish town.
more »
About half of the British public feel there is a general negative bias in reporting on EU affairs on television, radio and in the written press, with written press reports seen as the most negative, according to a public opinion poll published by the European Commission today.
more »