UKRAINE: GONGADZE KILLERS APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT,

C O N F I D E N T I A L KYIV 000965 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2016 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINR SOCI SCUL UP SUBJECT: UKRAINE: GONGADZE KILLERS APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT, WIDOW PLANS CIVIL CASE AGAINST INTERIOR MINISTRY Classified By: Political Counselor Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary. Valentyna Telychenko, the attorney for the widow of slain journalist Georgiy Gongadze, told EmbOff that she was satisfied with the March 15 convictions of three former police officers, but that she would request reduced sentences for two of the defendants when they make their final appeal to the Supreme Court in June. Telychenko said that widow Myroslava Gongadze would continue to push for an investigation into who ordered the murder and that she plans to file a civil case against the Ministry of Interior. ¶2. (C) We view the conviction of the three men involved in the murder as a positive step, but agree that doubts about the GoU's commitment to a full resolution of this case will linger until those who ordered the killings are brought to justice. Post will continue to track progress in Myroslava Gongadze's effort to find those who ordered the murder and her planned civil case. End Summary and Comment. ¶3. (C) Valentyna Telychenko, the attorney for the widow of slain journalist Georgiy Gongadze, told Emboff on May 20 that she was satisfied with the recent conviction of three former police officers for their involvement in the murder, but that widow Myroslava Gongadze will continue to push for a broader investigation into who ordered the killing in 2000. Telychenko said that the trial of the three defendants was thorough and correct from a legal standpoint. She confirmed that the three defendants had appealed their convictions to the Supreme Court - the court of last instance - and their appeal will be heard on June 17. She said she would request that the Supreme Court reduce the sentences for two of the three defendants - in line with her sentencing request before the lower court's verdict in March - but would ask to keep the 14-year sentence for Mykola Protasov who showed no signs of remorse or willingness to accept responsibility for his role in the murder. ¶4. (C) Telychenko reiterated her position that the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) should open a case against former SBU officer Major Mykola Melnychenko to determine if his recordings of conversations in then-President Kuchma's office can be submitted as evidence in a court of law. He could be charged for illegally making the recordings in the first place, she explained, and they are crucial to further investigating the role of senior figures such as Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz and former head of Kuchma's Presidential Administration Viktor Medvedchuk. She expressed some doubt that Melnychenko still has the original recordings in his possession and believed that he did not work alone in making the recordings, with possible help from Russian special services. She vowed to keep the case in the public's eye and said that Myroslava Gongadze plans to file a civil suit against the Ministry of Interior in which, in contrast to a criminal case, can charge it as an organization with "institutional responsibility" for Gongadze's murder and seek financial compensation. ¶5. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website: www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kyiv. Taylor