Cassette scandal
The cassette scandal ( Ukrainian Касетний скандал ), also known as Tapegate or Kutschmagate , was the biggest political scandal during Leonid Kuchma's tenure as President of Ukraine . The starting point was the publication of tape recordings on which the President can be heard with compromising statements. Between 1999 and 2000, the then bodyguard of the Ukrainian president, Major Mykola Melnytschenko , started several conversations between Leonid Kuchma and high-ranking state officials in his office in order to document the high level of corruption in the political system. After thisThe disappearance of the journalist Heorhiy Gongadze , who was critical of the government, on September 16, 2000, Melnytschenko decided to publish the tapes.
The tapes
On November 28, 2000, the President of the Socialist Party of Ukraine , Oleksandr Moros , gave the Ukrainian media recordings on a tape cassette from Melnichenko. On these, Leonid Kuchma can be heard demanding the liquidation of Heorhiy Gongadze, the founder of the dissident Internet newspaper Ukrajinska Pravda . Government officials immediately questioned the authenticity of the tapes and threatened libel suits.
On the recordings, senior government officials and confidants of the president can be heard discussing affairs of state and issues relevant to maintaining power. In addition to Leonid Kuchma, these are the then director of the Ukrainian security service Leonid Derkatsch , the then interior minister Yuri Kravchenko , the then parliamentary chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn and the then general prosecutor of Ukraine Mikhail Potebenko . Among other things, they talk about the journalist Heorhij Gongadze and the need to silence him. Mykola Azarov , then President of the Ukrainian Tax Administration and later Prime Minister of Ukraine, can also be heard. Other sections deal with the then independent of Kuchma, Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko , displeasure with independent media and journalists, and the alleged sale of Kolchuga -Radarsystems to Iraq. In 2002, an American company commissioned by Melnytschenko confirmed the authenticity.
Political Consequences
The authenticity of the tapes and the question of their admission as evidence in court have not been conclusively clarified. However, its publication led to the political decline of Leonid Kuchma's government. The resentment about the corrupt and criminal power system made public by the tapes erupted in citizen protests: The first protest against the incumbent President Kuchma took place on December 15, 2000 on the Majdan Nezaleschnosti in the Ukrainian capital Kiev . The high point of the demonstrations was on March 8th and 9th, 2001. They were held under the slogan “Ukraine without Kuchma”. The initially peaceful protests ended in violent clashes between demonstrators and the Berkut . As a result of the protests, the head of the security service Derkach resigned in February 2001 and the Minister of the Interior Kravchenko resigned in March 2001. Kravchenko died in March 2005 under unknown circumstances. The protests against Kuchma lasted until May. In May 2001, the incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko was dismissed, who then joined the opposition and, after the parliamentary elections in 2002, became parliamentary leader of the Our Ukraine party .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Moroz says leaked audiotapes link Kuchma to Gongadze's disappearance , Kyiv Post of November 28, 2000.
- ↑ RFE / RL releases transcripts of interviews with Melnychenko , Ukrweekly from February 4, 2001
- ↑ Transcript: What Do Melnychenko's Tapes Say About Gongadze Case? , Radio Free Europe from March 3, 2014
- ↑ US lawyer: Defense of Kuchma will be based "Melnychenko tapes" not being authentic , Kyiv Post of April 11, 2011
- ↑ масові сутички з міліцією ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Istorichna Pravda from March 9, 2011
- ↑ Ukraine minister 'killed himself' , BBC News of March 31, 2005
