Four years later, case of murdered journalist Gongadze remains unsolved
New York, September 16, 2004—Four years after the disappearance and death of Ukrainian journalist Georgy Gongadze, the Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by the lack of progress in the government’s inquiry into the case. CPJ also remains concerned that journalists are being harassed in the run-up to October elections. “It is reprehensible that President…
Threatened radio director gets refugee status in the U.S.
New York, August 12, 2004—The director of the shuttered Kyiv radio station Kontinent has arrived in Washington, D.C., after gaining refugee status from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In a telephone interview with CPJ, Sergey Sholokh said he fled Ukraine five months ago and applied for refugee status through the U.S. Embassy in Poland.…
Breakthrough in Gongadze case met with deep suspicion
New York, June 22, 2004—Ukraine’s prosecutor-general, Gennady Vasilev, announced yesterday that investigators are questioning a suspect who admitted to killing independent journalist Georgy Gongadze, local reports said. The citizen, identified only as K, is a convicted murderer already in prison for several other killings that involved decapitation, the manner in which Gongadze was killed four…
Attacks on the Press 2003: Europe and Central Asia Analysis
While integration into NATO and the European Union has had a positive effect on press freedom conditions in most of Central Europe and the Baltic states, the situation for journalists in Russia and the former Soviet republics has worsened steadily, with governments relying on authoritarian tactics to silence the media. Even reformist governments in the…
Attacks on the Press 2003: Ukraine
The 2000 murder of internet journalist Georgy Gongadze continued to dog Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, who was fighting for political survival in 2003. Gongadze, editor of Ukrainska Pravda, an online publication that often reports on government corruption, disappeared on September 16, 2000. A headless corpse believed to be Gongadze’s was found shortly after his disappearance,…
CPJ RECEIVES OSCE PRIZE FOR JOURNALISM AND DEMOCRACY
Acceptance Speech by Ann Cooper ON BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN JOURNALISTS WHO FOUNDED THE COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS NEARLY A QUARTER OF A CENTURY AGO, I THANK YOU FOR THIS GREAT HONOR. THIS PRIZE COMES AT A CRUCIAL MOMENT FOR GLOBAL PRESS FREEDOM–A TIME WHEN MANY GOVERNMENTS, INCLUDING THE UNITED STATES, INCREASINGLY CITE THE WAR…
CPJ marks third anniversary of journalist’s disappearance
New York, September 16, 2003—Three years after the disappearance of Ukrainian journalist Georgy Gongadze, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is dismayed by the lack of progress in the government’s inquiry into this case. “President Leonid Kuchma’s government continues to obstruct the official inquiry,” said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. “Journalists in Ukraine will not…
Local prosecutor in Gongadze case convicted and amnestied
New York, May 7, 2003—The Shevchenko District Court in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, yesterday convicted and then amnestied Serhy Obozov, the former prosecutor of Tarashcha District, for obstructing the criminal inquiry into the September 2000 disappearance and murder of Internet journalist Georgy Gongadze, according to local and international press reports. Obozov, who was arrested in August…
Attacks on the Press 2002: Ukraine
During 2002, President Leonid Kuchma’s relationship with the United States hit an all-time low over suspicions that he sold a sophisticated radar system to Iraq. At home, his presidency was threatened by court rulings that opened a criminal case against him (and that were later overturned) for alleged involvement in the 2000 murder of journalist…
CPJ marks second anniversary of journalist’s disappearance
New York, September 13, 2002—Two years after the disappearance of Ukrainian journalist Georgy Gongadze, the Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by the lack of progress in the government’s inquiry into this case. “President Leonid Kuchma’s government continues to obstruct the official inquiry,” said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. “Journalists in Ukraine will not feel…