NEWSFLASH! Apparent suicide of Kravchenko on eve of scheduled testimony in Gongadze Case

By Aussiegirl

In an alarming development,
Yuri Kravchenko, summoned for questioning today at the Prosecutor General's office, has apparently committed suicide at his dacha outside Kyiv. This is bound to raise suspicions that the suicide was not "intentional", as several other key figures and witnesses in this case have already died in violent or mysterious circumstances. It is also bound to raise suspicions that there are still those even in the present government who are covering up the truth in this case, or that the agents of those higher ups responsible for the murder of Gongadze are still wielding dangerous power in Ukraine. One thing seems to be certain -- this case has the potential to be a bombshell which may explode in an unpredictable manner, if so many people are either being eliminated, or are committing suicide rather than testify.

Read more from ABCNews:

. . .President Viktor Yushchenko has accused his predecessor's administration of covering up Gongadze's murder, the most famous criminal case in post-Soviet Ukraine. He told his interior minister to take control of the inquiry into Kravchenko's death.

A spokeswoman for Ukraine's SBU security service, Marina Ostapenko, said by telephone that Kravchenko's body had been found at his country house near Kiev. Investigators had gone to the site and a preliminary investigation pointed to suicide.

. . ."The president of Ukraine believes that the death of former interior minister Yuri Kravchenko may be linked to the investigation into the case of Georgiy Gongadze," a statement issued by Yushchenko's office said.

. . . On the eve of Kravchenko's death, several officials had appealed to prosecutors to take special measures to ensure that the former interior minister did not take his own life.

"A man who wants to kill himself will always find the opportunity," Transport Minister Evhen Chervonenko told reporters. "The Gongadze case is proof of our democracy."

(Kuchma could still not be reached for comment at the resort of Karlovy Vary where he continues his extended vacation.)