An eternally relevant case...

Maybe we do not want to believe it, because we are seeing so many courageous deeds, so much effort, so many deaths... to what end? Is it for us to come to a hearing on the high-profile Gongadze case in the Court of Appeal and see that the country is still living in the old reality? “Until this day, I did not see a court hearing that insolent and cy­nical, even in its formalities, in 14 years, neither under Viktor Yanukovych nor under Leonid Kuchma. Believe me, I did see a lot,” Oleksii Podolsky, who is a party to the Pukach case, commented on the November 24 hearing. It is sad and alarming to hear such words from the only living victim in the case after all the events that Ukraine has gone and is going through now.

After a long break, the trial resumed with the participation of new members of the panel of judges, presided over by Stepan Hladii. The previous panel, led by Tetiana Frych, has yielded to the pressure and recused themselves from the case even before getting to proceedings on the merits of appeals against Pukach’s sentence. Let us recall that Pechersk District Court of Kyiv sentenced former Interior Ministry general Pukach to life imprisonment for the murder of journa­list Gongadze and the abduction and beating of civic activist Podolsky.

ATTEMPTS TO BAN MEDIA WORKERS FROM ENTERING THE COURTROOM WITH CAMERAS ON NOVEMBER 24, 2014, CAUSED OUTRAGE AMONG JOURNALISTS AND THE PARTIES TO THE TRIAL ALIKE, IN PARTICULAR FROM PODOLSKY (RIGHT) AND HIS COURT REPRESENTATIVE YELIASHKEVYCH (LEFT)

We often hear nowadays that the Pukach case was fabricated, that renewed prosecution of Kuchma on old accusations is unnecessary, and the Gongadze case should be left well alone... because the country is at war and beset by so many troubles! Such commonsense reasoning fits fine some people’s efforts to divert public attention from this historic case and allow the perpetrators to avoid responsibility for their actions; most importantly, it creates favorable conditions for new crimes. In short, the country is seeing old ways being preserved and further entrenched.

“The Ukrainians often lose because they lack memory and have short attention span, because they quickly relax,” political analyst Ostap Kryvdyk commented for The Day. “We lost the Orange Revolution in this way and had to do it all over again. I was among those who decided in 2005 to go back to their normal lives rather than keep up the revolution. The press must keep this memory and attention alive, while civic activists have to act. Ukraine will not become a normal country until the Gongadze case is completely solved, because impunity generates more impunity.”

WHEN ASKED ABOUT MOTIVES OF HIS CRIMES THIS TIME, PUKACH REFUSED TO ANSWER THE QUESTION. LET US RECALL THAT AFTER THE VERDICT WAS ANNOUNCED AT THE PECHERSK COURT, JUDGE MELNYK ASKED THE CONVICT WHETHER HE AGREED WITH THE SENTENCE, TO WHICH HE REPLIED: “I WILL AGREE WHEN KUCHMA AND LYTVYN WILL JOIN ME IN THIS CAGE.” HOWEVER, PUKACH CONFIRMED LATELY THAT “JUDGE MELNYK ALLOWED SOME PEOPLE INTO MY CAGE DURING CLOSED HEARINGS TO INFLUENCE ME”

The November 24 hearing saw se­ve­ral scandals. Firstly, cameramen were not allowed into the courtroom at first. Following a lengthy debate, the journalists were able to enter the room, and court later allowed photo and video recording as well, although it had to be a non-issue in the first place.

Secondly and most importantly, the parties’ debate on holding secret or public hearings has clarified many things. The press and the public have long seen an open trial as the obvious answer, but the court’s decision to close the trial to the public came as no surprise. It looks like the corrupt and ugly-looking system is alive and well. However, the parties’ stances are important and revealing in this regard.

The prosecution, represented by Viktor Lobach and Roman Voloshyn, argued against holding an open trial. Pukach’s attorney Hryhorii Demydenko made an identical demand, citing the law “On State Secrets.” Myroslava Gongadze’s attorney Valentyna Telychenko said as follows: “I realize that closing the appeal proceedings is a forced move, but let us remember that the defendant has been in custody for more than five years, and the sentence still has not entered into force. I accept the court’s decision to close the trial as a forced but legitimate one.”

The victim Podolsky and his court representative Oleksandr Yeliash­ke­vych spoke strongly in favor of keeping the trial open. “I stress that this hearing will deal with no secret documents whatsoever, and please pass this information on to [Prosecutor Gene­ral] Vitalii Yarema. The main secret in this case is that these crimes were ordered by Kuchma and Volodymyr Lytvyn,” Podolsky declared. “If you, the gentlemen of the court, join all those who have abused victims and their representatives over these 14 years, you will be held responsible, and it will be more than just moral responsibility…” Yeliashkevych stressed.

More information about the November 24 hearing can be found in the article “Classified Impunity,” posted on our website at day.kiev.ua/uk/ article/politika/bezkarnist-pid-grifom-taiemno.

We asked Myroslava Gongadze to comment on it, so that we know her opinion of the situation: “To change everything, it is necessary to change the system and the spirit of governance and find new people who can work in new ways. Unfortunately, the system has stayed unchanged, only the key fi­gures at the top have been replaced, while governance and justice have kept functioning as before. We have to accept the decision of the court, for our main goal is to send Pukach finally to the place where he will serve his sentence. The verdict has to come into force. The killer must serve his sentence. We filed an appeal against the verdict because we maintained that not only Pukach, but all those he named as ordering him to commit crimes should be held responsible. He did not kill Heor­hii on his own initiative, he acted on orders of his superiors, so who were they? This question is still open and the pro­secutor’s office must investigate it. We will withdraw our appeal today because the trial has been delayed for so long that there is a real chance that the state will be forced to let Pukach go. Therefore, the court should operate as efficiently and quickly as possible, confirm the decision of the lower court and send Pukach to serve his life sentence.”

The hearing continued in closed session on November 25. We learned that the judges postponed the proceedings until December 8. Characteristically, many politicians and journalists who have made their careers on this case are now trying to keep clear of it and stay silent. It has been especially interesting to see behavior of journa­lists newly elected to the Verkhovna Rada. Not a one of them was present in the Court of Appeal... The daily bloodshed which we see now is a result of Kuchma and Yanukovych’s governance system. People should not tole­rate rampant corruption, crimes, and impunity... The Gongadze case is a test for all of us, as it stays relevant. There will be no true change until we see a legal end to this high-profile historic crime story, since our troubles will only get worse without it. The mass murder of the Euromaidan protesters is a case in point. The public, experts, journalists, politicians, judges... all have to assess the situation in their minds and decide where they stand. The country will stay in its current state as long as it cannot choose bet­ween good and evil once and for all.