Gongadze trial postponed again

Reporters Without Borders today criticised the new delay in the trial of the suspected killers of journalist Georgy Gongadze, supposedly because of the illness of one of the three accused. Kiev appeals court judge Irina Grigorieva agree to a request for postponement by defendant Olexander Popovitch, who said he was not well enough for further questioning, and adjourned the trial to 16 February so he could have medical treatment. Reporters Without Borders expressed surprise that the judge has so far agreed to all the defendants' requests but rejected the call by the Gongadze family's lawyer for the trial to be held in public. It also criticised the slowness of the trial, which suits many politicians who do not want their names mentioned at the trial only a few weeks before parliamentary elections. The Gongadze trial, which has been adjourned five times since it began on 9 January, is expected to last several months. ------ 6 February 2006 Repeated adjournments hold up Gongadze murder trial Reporters Without Borders today condemned the many interruptions and long adjournments that are slowing the progress of the trial of three policemen for the murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze in 2000. The most recent hearing, on 2 February, was adjourned because two of the defendants, Mykola Protasov and Oleksandr Popovych, felt faint and the court had to seek first aid for them. Both suffer from high blood pressure. Judge Irina Grigoryeva suggested that their feeling faint was due in part to the presence of parliamentarians in the courtroom. It was the second time that Protasov requested medical attention since he took the witness stand, and just the latest of many interruptions - in one case lasting two weeks - since the trial began on 9 January. The next hearing, scheduled for 8 February, will be held behind closed doors after the judges once again rejected a request by the lawyer representing Lessia Gongadze (the victim's mother) for the public to be allowed to attend. ------- 25 January 2006 Call for public trial of journalist's accused killers _ read in Russian Reporters Without Borders called today for the trial of the suspected killers of journalist Georgy Gongadze to be held in open court and expressed concern and surprise at a judge's decision yesterday to hold it in secret. Judge Irina Grigorieva also banned journalists from the courtroom, citing article 40 of the criminal code and said evidence likely to reveal state secrets may be heard behind closed doors. Questioning of the accused, arguments in the case and announcement of the verdict will all be in secret. “Her decision is unacceptable and increases our fears about the handling of the case of Gongadze,” who was murdered in 2000, the worldwide press freedom organisation said. “She admits the trial is highly political but refuses to provide all the openness it should have. The trial is a test for the country's newfound democracy and its new president, Viktor Yushchenko, who made solving the case a priority. It now seems some of those implicated in the murder still have enough power to keep some of the evidence hidden.” Yushchenko, who took office in January last year, promised last March he would speedily resolve the murder of Gongadze, who was editor of the online newspaper Ukraïnska Pravda. Three policemen accused of killing him - Valery Kostenko, Mykola Protassov and Olexander Popovitch - went on trial in Kiev on 9 January. But the hearing only lasted an hour because the judge said there was not enough space in the courtroom for any more than a few journalists. The next hearing was on 23 January. Judge Grigoryeva also initially refused a request for senior officials such as former President Leonid Kuchma and current parliamentary speaker Volodymir Lytvyn to be called as witnesses. Kuchma and Lytvyn are among those suspected of giving the orders for Gongadze's murde r. The judge changed her mind on this point yesterday.