Leonid Kuchma Archives - Committee to Protect Journalists

The wife of Philippines journalist Gerardo Ortega looks at his picture. (AFP/Noel Celis)

News of convictions in journalist murders sadly infrequent

May 15, 2013 12:55 PM EDT

We received an unusual email last week. Michaella Ortega wrote to tell us that Marlon Recamata, who confessed to shooting her father, Philippine journalist Gerardo Ortega, in 2011, had been convicted and sentenced to life for the crime.

Years after Georgy Gongadze was killed, justice is still evasive. The journalist is seen here standing next to his wife, Myroslava, in a photo from 1995. (AP/Gongadze family)

Despite official comments, no progress in Gongadze case

February 21, 2013 4:55 PM EST

More than 12 years after several police officers strangled and beheaded muckraking online reporter Georgy Gongadze in a forest outside Kiev, justice in the case is still evasive and riddled with, well, riddles.

In Gongadze case, a milestone toward justice

January 29, 2013 3:07 PM EST

New York, January 29, 2013–The conviction today of a former high-ranking Ukrainian police official in the murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze is a long-overdue step, but justice will not be fully served until all of the perpetrators are held responsible, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Gongadze, founder and editor of the critical news…

Georgy Gongadze, shown here the summer of 2000, was the first online journalist killed in retaliation for his work. (AFP/Dima Gavrish)

Finding common cause from first online journalist murder

October 12, 2012 2:36 PM EDT

The first online journalist killed for his work disappeared one night 12 years ago in the Ukraine. Georgy Gongadze, 31, left a colleague’s house to return home to his wife and two young children. He never arrived. Seven weeks later, a farmer, a few hours’ drive away, discovered the journalist’s headless corpse. Gongadze edited the website Ukrainska…

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Fighting Impunity

February 21, 2012 11:35 PM EST

The global rate of unpunished murders remains stubbornly high at just below 90 percent. Senior officials in the most dangerous countries are finally acknowledging the problem — the first step in what will be a long, hard battle. By Elisabeth Witchel

Kuchma, under indictment, denies involvement in the Gongadze slaying. (Reuters/Gleb Garanich)

Gongadze suspect admits to killing, implicates Kuchma

August 31, 2011 6:24 PM EDT

New York, August 31, 2011–A former general with the Ukrainian Interior Ministry testified in a Kyiv court on Tuesday that he killed journalist Georgy Gongadze in 2000 in a plot orchestrated by former President Leonid Kuchma and other top officials, according to news reports and CPJ interviews.

Kuchma outside the prosecutor's office in Kyiv. (Reuters/Konstantin Chernichkin)

Ukraine indicts Kuchma in Gongadze murder

March 24, 2011 3:04 PM EDT

New York, March 24, 2011–Eleven years after the brutal murder of online journalist Georgy Gongadze, Ukrainian prosecutors today indicted former President Leonid Kuchma on abuse-of-office charges in connection with the slaying, local and international news reports said.

Ukraine to investigate Kuchma in Gongadze murder

March 22, 2011 5:08 PM EDT

New York, March 22, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes news that Ukrainian prosecutors have opened an investigation into allegations that former President Leonid Kuchma had a role in the 2000 abduction and murder of independent journalist Georgy Gongadze, left. CPJ called on Ukrainian investigators today to clarify the focus of the investigation and conduct…