The Crimean scandal burst out last Saturday when the peninsula’s
most popular newspaper, Krymskaya Pravda, carried an open letter from former
Speaker Yevhen Supruniuk, reading in part, “When I was still Chairman of
the Supreme Council and discussed ways of securing public law and order
in the Crimea, during a confidential meeting with one of the leaders of
the state (it was generally alleged that the Communists were to blame for
the unrest), I was offered a deal to have the Crimean Communist Party leader
Leonid Hrach physically liquidated. In return I was promised...” (the three
dots are in the original text — Author) And then the message specifies
that, should anything happen to Yevhen Supruniuk, “copies and original
texts will be made available to reliable journalists and two international
organizations.”
More interesting details turn up. Precisely when Krymskaya
Pravda published this letter the penninsula’s General Prosecutor’s Office
started criminal proceedings on charges of conscious incitement to commit
homicide pressed against Mr. Supruniuk. It was suggested he voluntarily
come in “for questioning,” in return for which he was promised observance
of all his constitutional rights. Apart from whether his involuntary detention
would entail violations of those rights, suppose we try to understand something
else: why so stubbornly refer the Supruniuk epic to his office as Crimean
Speaker (Comrade Hrach has been repeatedly quoted as saying that at the
time underworld lords reigned the upper Crimean echelons), and why are
no references made to another key figure of the period, then Premier Anatoly
Franchuk? Mr. Supruniuk would have never become Speaker, had it not been
for his family ties with the Franchuks, just as the Ukrainian President
would have never approved of the number one fireman getting all the way
up to the Autonomous Republic’s leading political post, had it not been
for the solicitations of both Franchuks. It was only when Verkhovna Rada
demanded the government’s report that Anatoly Franchuk, by then Ukrainian
Solon, had to leave his post ever so reluctantly, also marking Supruniuk’s
political twilight. His letter refers to this: “It was precisely at that
period that one of the closest family friends of the Ukrainian leaders
warned me sharply, ‘Mind you own business and keep clear of F, or else
you will find yourself in a very big trouble...’” Anatoly Franchuk took
the Premier’s seat again, after Supruniuk’s retirement with others’ backing.
No mention is made of any of this in the Crimea; no one seems “interested.”
Yet this is precisely the reason why the bloodhounds have been let loose,
ordered to sniff out Supruniuk come what may. There is a fair chance they
will fail, unless the fugitive blunders, but this would be his own fault.
Meeting with journalists Monday, Leonid Hrach said, “This
publication raises serious questions. I believe that the law enforcement
agencies should have answers to all these questions. The Prosecutor’s Office
responded absolutely correctly and effectively. The search for Supruniuk
must be stepped up, so the man can say whether all this is true or false.”






