www.ukrweekly.com ïêàëíéë ÇéëäêÖë! CHRIST IS RISEN! HE KRAINIAN EEKLY T PublishedU by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profitW association Vol. LXXVI No. 12 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 23, 2008 $1/$2 in Ukraine Bush to visit Three convicted in 2000 murder of Gongadze by Illya M. Labunka department. His whereabouts are Popovych and Kostenko, claimed they Ukraine on eve Kyiv Press Bureau unknown, although recent reports have were following the orders of their superior, surfaced that suggest he may be in hiding namely Gen. Pukach. Messrs. Popovych KYIV – The Kyiv Court of Appeals on in Israel. and Kostenko both claimed that they had of NATO summit March 15 convicted three former police All three convicted officers admitted no intention of actually killing Gongadze, officers of Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal involvement in the Gongadze slaying but but aimed only to frighten him. PARSIPPANY, N.J. – President George Affairs of carrying out the 2000 murder of W. Bush will visit Ukraine on March 31- claimed that Gongadze was actually stran- Furthermore, the two admitted they were 31-year-old investigative journalist not aware of Gongadze’s true identity until April 1, it was announced in both Heorhii Gongadze. gled to death by Gen. Pukach. Washington and Brussels on March 13. During the trial Mr. Protasov denied the after they were both exposed to media The long-anticipated verdict ended a reports identifying the slain journalist. President Viktor Yushchenko of trial, plagued by continuous delays and allegation that the murder of Gongadze Ukraine told reporters in Brussels on adjournments, that had begun only on was premeditated. He, as well as Messrs. (Continued on page 9) March 13 that President Bush will visit January 9, 2006. Mykola Protasov was Ukraine just before the NATO summit in sentenced to 13 years in prison, while his Bucharest. co-defendants, Oleksander Popovych and According to RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Valerii Kostenko, both received sentences Service, President Yushchenko said he Rada approves draft law on Cabinet of 12 years. intends to discuss with President Bush According to the presiding judge, Iryna Ukraine’s possible membership in NATO Hryhorieva, the sentences of Mr. Protasov and bill on pre-term elections in Kyiv and bilateral relations. and Mr. Kostenko actually date back to “There is still a lot of work to be done February 2005, while Mr. Popovych’s sen- by Illya M. Labunka (PRU) and the Communist Party of about negotiations with different coun- tence began on the day of his conviction. Kyiv Press Bureau Ukraine (CPU) abstained from voting. tries” regarding Ukraine’s NATO bid, Following the conviction, the panel of President Yushchenko submitted the Reuters quoted Mr. Yushchenko as saying. KYIV – Ukraine’s Parliament voted on judges requested that Internal Affairs bill on the Cabinet of Ministers to “We are not speaking about joining Minister Yurii Lutsenko strip Mr. March 18 to approve the first draft of a Parliament in an effort to roll back the NATO today. ...There were cases of coun- Protasov of his police colonel’s rank, Mr. bill aimed at strengthening President changes to the existing law on the tries that were part of the Membership Popovych of his major’s rank and Mr. Viktor Yushchenko’s authority at the Cabinet that had been adopted on Action Plan for three, five, eight years,” Kostenko of his colonel’s rank. The con- expense of the government. The draft December 21, 2006, when Yulia the Ukrainian president added. victed officers also will not be able to law on the Cabinet of Ministers received Meanwhile, in Washington, the Office Tymoshenko and then-Prime Minister seek government employment once they 246 favorable votes out of a possible 449 Viktor Yanukovych had joined forces to of the White House Press Secretary registered lawmakers who were present announced on March 13 that “The presi- serve their sentences and are released. override President Yushchenko’s veto The three convicted former officers and eligible to cast their ballots in the power. dent and Mrs. [Laura] Bush will travel to Verkhovna Rada. Ukraine, Romania and Croatia in April were members of the Internal Affairs The changes, originally tailored for the The bill was supported by the Our 2008 to support the advance of freedom Ministry’s Department of External Yanukovych government, allowed the Ukraine People’s Self Defense (OU-PSD) and democracy and to strengthen the Surveillance and Criminal Intelligence. coalition to appoint the ministers of NATO alliance to confront 21st century An international arrest warrant is still bloc, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (YTB) defense and foreign affairs if the presi- outstanding for another suspect, Gen. and the Volodymyr Lytvyn Bloc. The (Continued on page 14) Oleksii Pukach, the former head of the deputies of the Party of the Regions (Continued on page 9) Ukrainian Canadian University Students’ Union convenes 50th congress by Adriana Luhovy anniversary of the Famine-Genocide. He then thanked his hard-working exec- MONTREAL – The 50th anniversary utive members, particularly Andrij Popiel of Ukrainian Canadian University Students’ the University, of Manitoba and Adriana Union congress was held in Montreal on Luhovy of Concordia University for all February 2-4, with delegates representing their efforts in helping to organize the 50th 10 Ukrainian student clubs from across congress. Canada. The delegates attending were very He continued by emphasizing the impor- pleased with the program and the overall tance of SUSK as a national coordinating organization of the congress. A range of student body across Canada with its poten- topics was discussed and workshops were tial for contributing to and influencing conducted helping to form a program for change within existing Ukrainian Canadian the future of SUSK (the union’s Ukrainian- organizations, and the need to be active based acronym) regarding issues of importance to Ukrainian The three-day 50th congress was offi- Canadians and to become involved with cially opened by SUSK President Artem projects in Ukraine. Luhovy, who welcomed all the student-del- Among the invited speakers at the con- egates to McGill University. He thanked gress were Evhen Czolij, first vice-president Pavlo Horbal and Pavlo Grod, both past of the Ukrainian World Congress, who out- Delegates at the 50th Congress of the Ukrainian Canadian University Students’ presidents of SUSK, for helping to revive lined the work of the UWC and noted how Union (SUSK). SUSK in October 2007 at the 22nd triennial SUSK relates to this world body; Michael congress of the Ukrainian Canadian Bociurkiw, former president of SUSK, now Congress, which had a record number of working for UNICEF in New York, who tural activism. 40th anniversary of the SUSK publication youth delegates. spoke about the growing AIDS epidemic in Ms. Hrycenko gave an overview of past called Student. A 10-panel exhibit of past During the official SUSK Congress Ukraine and made suggestions as to what SUSK activities and stated, “Where there is issues of Student was organized in the main opening, the president asked the students to can be done to try and stop it; and Zorianna a will and a willingness to become active, session hall of McGill’s SSMU Building. stand for one minute of silence in memory Hrycenko, a former SUSK board member much can be accomplished and lifelong Guest speaker Prof. Roman Serbyn, the of the over 7 million deliberately starved to and activist, who focused on the history of friendships can be made.” first editor of Student, outlined its origins death in 1932-1933 to mark the 75th SUSK and its political, community and cul- The SUSK congress also celebrated the (Continued on page 8) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 23, 2008 No. 12 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFSNEWSBRIEFS Future Russian Prime Minister Putin Ukraine sends second request to NATO into corruption allegations, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service reported. Mr. insists on still being heard on NATO KYIV – President Viktor Yushchenko Yushchenko also approved the appoint- and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko ments of members of a committee that will have sent another request to NATO by Pavel Felgenhauer Mr. Putin plans to be present at the assess whether Mr. Chernovetskyi has Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer Eurasia Daily Monitor NATO summit next month in Bucharest, failed to fulfill his duties or directives from for Ukraine to be given a Membership the president or the Cabinet of Ministers, or Romania. In the run-up to the summit, the Action Plan at the NATO summit in During a March 8 press conference with Kremlin is moving from anti-NATO rheto- violated the Constitution or the law. The visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Bucharest in April, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian president ordered the head of the commit- ric to possible anti-NATO action. At the Service reported on March 17. Mr. Russia’s outgoing President Vladimir Putin March 8 press conference, Mr. Putin stated, tee, Vice Prime Minister Ivan Vasiunyk, to expressed his acute annoyance with Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko also report on the committee’s findings by “The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians have asked German Chancellor Angela Western policies over Kosovar independ- do not want their country to join NATO, but March 28. Mr. Chernovetskyi asked the ence, NATO expansion, Afghanistan and Merkel and French President Nicolas president to conduct an independent inves- their country is being pulled in nonethe- Sarkozy to support Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic Western criticism of internal Russian poli- less,” a trend the Kremlin considers “unde- tigation into the activities of the Kyiv city cies. Chancellor Merkel sounded a positive aspirations. Germany and France recently administration and to remove him from the mocratic.” Mr. Putin insisted that the expressed skepticism that there is sufficient note, emphasizing cooperation and dia- Ukrainian and Georgian peoples – not their post for the period of the probe.