By Christina Berger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
KHARKIV, Ukraine – Local news outlets reported on Wednesday that a key witness in the case of missing Ukrainian journalist, Vasyl Klymentyev, is also missing. Petro Matviyenko, another witness in the case and Klymentyev’s colleague, would not reveal the name of the missing witness but stated he had confirmed the disappearance with law enforcement.
The police are believed to be involved in the disappearance and possible death of Klymentyev, who was last seen getting into a car with an unidentified man on August 11, 2010 after leaving his home in Kharkiv. His cell phone and keys were later found on an empty boat floating in a reservoir near Kharkiv.
“There are enough reasons to believe that he is dead,” Interior Minister Anatoliy Mohyliov said. “We have suspicions that members of law enforcement organs, both current and former, may be involved.” Mohyliov stated he would be taking over personal control of the case, and switching the investigation to the Main Investigation Department, which handles high-profile cases. President Viktor Yanukovych also said he was taking personal control of the case, ordering law enforcement to make “every possible and impossible effort” to find Klymentyev.
According to the Ukrainian Journal, Henadiy Moskal, former deputy interior minister and a member of the opposition group People’s Self-defense, believes Klymentyev’s disappearance has something to do with a battle for control over Kharkiv police. “In reality this crime has been committed in the police environment,” Moskal said. “It was committed in the battle for the post of the chief of the Kharkiv region police department.”
Klymentyev, chief-editor and reporter for the weekly newspaper Novyi Still (New Style), was reportedly offered a bribe and subsequently threatened for his refusal to kill a story. According to Matviyenko, deputy editor-in-chief of New Style, Klymentyev was working on a report involving the illegal activities of a Kharkiv prosecutor at the time of his disappearance. Matviyenko told Radio Free Europe/Liberty Europe that the police and the prosecutor’s office are connected and the investigators aren’t interested in finding Klymentyev, despite statements by the Interior Minister and President. Matviyenko called the investigation a “farce.”
For more information, please see:
UKRAINIAN JOURNAL – Key witness in journalist case disappears – 1 Sept. 2010
UNIAN – Disappeared witness in the case of journalist Kharkov Klimenteva – 1 Sept. 2010
RFE/RL – Colleague of Missing Ukrainian Journalist Slams Investigation – 30 Aug. 2010
NEW YORK TIMES – Ukraine: Missing Journalist Is Presumed Dead – 26 Aug. 2010
UKRAINIAN JOURNAL – Minister: Missing editor killed by cops – 26 Aug. 2010
THE EPOCH TIMES – Missing Ukrainian Journalist Threatened Before Disappearance – 23 Aug. 2010
AP – Ukrainian President urges search for missing journalist – 20 Aug. 2010
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS – Journalist goes missing in eastern Ukraine – 18 Aug. 2010
