11/13/2002 | lukashenko

Judge opens second criminal case against Ukraine's
president
By MARINA SYSOYEVA
Associated Press Writer
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - A Ukrainian judge on Wednesday
ordered an investigation into President Leonid Kuchma's
failure to enact two laws that would regulate government
activity and give lawmakers more control of presidential
activity.
It was the second criminal investigation that Appellate
Court Judge Yuriy Vasylenko has opened against the
president since October.
In the first case, Vasylenko ordered prosecutors to
investigate opposition accusations that Kuchma was involved
in the sale of military technology to Iraq and the killing
of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, who crusaded against
high-level corruption. Kuchma has denied the allegations.
Wednesday's order, too, was prompted by opposition
lawmakers' accusations. They allege that Kuchma's failure
to enact the laws added up to a refusal to conduct his
duties as a state official - a crime that can bring up to
five years in prison.
Among the bills' provisions are creation of a
parliamentary investigative commission that would expand
lawmakers' control of executive power.
Vasylenko denied that his decision to open the case was
politically motivated. His colleague, Justice Council
member Viktor Shishkin, said that the two bills were vital
to the government's operations and to parliamentary
oversight of the executive branch.
"Today the authorities don't want to set norms to
legalize the parliament's controlling function," Shishkin
said.
The prosecutor-general's office has refused to fulfill
Vasylenko's previous order, saying that he has overstepped
his authority by trying to prosecute the president. Kuchma
enjoys immunity from prosecution.
Kuchma has been under fire from western governments,
including the United States, and the domestic opposition,
which mobilized tens of thousands of protesters who took to
the streets three times in September to call for his
resignation. The demonstrations were the largest since
Ukraine's independence from the former Soviet Union in
1991.
U.S. officials say they have authenticated a two-year-old
recording in which Kuchma allegedly is heard approving a
US$100 million sale of a Kolchuha radar system to Iraq in
violation of U.N. sanctions. U.S. and British investigators
so far have failed to prove the sale was made
(ms/ji/jh)


131349 nov 02GMT

[KIEV]