Former Ukrainian minister found dead

March 4, 2005

Yuri Kravchenko, a former Interior Minister in Ukraine, has been found dead in his home just hours before questioning for the case of murdered journalist Georgiy Gongadze. Early reports indicate that he committed suicide, but the circumstances of his death will most likely result in further investigation by the authorities.

Yuri Kravchenko was the Ukraine's Interior Minister in 2000 when Mr. Gongadze was murdered. Mr. Gongadze's headless body was buried in the woods near but his head was never found. Nobody has yet been arrested for the murder, but it was believed that Mr. Kravchenko's evidence could have led to an arrest.