Tags:
Journalism of Courage
A criminal investigation into the poisoning of the Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko began on Sunday after tests showed that his blood contained 1,000 times the normal level of dioxin.
The poisoning caused the severe chloracne which led to the disfigurement of his face. The results of the investigation are likely to prove politically explosive amid feverish speculation that Yushchenko was the victim of a Cold War-style poisoning by members of the country’s intelligence services. The inquiry, announced by the Ukrainian authorities last night, will be led by a prosecutor general who recently took on his post as part of a deal between the opposition and the authorities aimed at ending the country’s political stand-off.
Last night Yushchenko, who returned to Kiev from a private clinic in Vienna with his wife, Kateryna, and baby, sought to draw a line under the case until after a new round of presidential elections on Dec 26. ‘‘I don’t want this factor to influence the election in some way, either as a plus or a minus’’ he said. ‘‘This question will require a great deal of time and serious investigation. Let us do it after the election. Today is not the moment.’’ The disclosure that Yushchenko had ingested dioxin, has increased suspicion that the regime of the outgoing president, Leonid Kuchma, which had the most to gain from his demise, may have been involved. Yushchenko fell mysteriously ill in September after a late dinner at the country house of Volodymyr Satysuk, the first deputy chairman of the SBU, Ukraine’s intelligence service and the successor to the KGB. Other senior security officials were present including Ihor Smeshko, the head of the SBU.
