Olena Prytula is editor in chief of the online newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda, which she launched with Georgyj Gongadze in 2000. Olena wrote this article for the World Association of Newspapers.

Georgyj Gongadze, the Ukrainian journalist, was only 31 when he was murdered. He was last seen on 16 September, 2000. Two months later his body was found - decapitated and partially decayed.

Some weeks later, Ukrainians heard a tape recording of a voice very similar to that of president Kuchma advising his internal affairs minister to get rid of journalist Gongadze - “hand him over to the Chechens and leave him without pants”. The conversations in Kuchma’s office were recorded by a former security staff member. Apart from possible involvement in the journalist’s murder, these recordings provided many confirmations of corruption and other crimes.

Shocked by the murder, the Ukrainians staged protests in the years 2000-2001 under the slogan “Ukraine without Kuchma”. This was the beginning of the Orange revolutionwhich triumphed in 2004, when the streets were filled by millions of people.

At of these demonstrations one could see protest signs with Georgyj’s picture asking who killed him. Four and a half years have gone by. And there is still no answer to that question.

It was not easy for Georgyj to find a job in the Ukraine of the late 90s, which is why he decided to create his own online newspaper.

He named the paper “Ukrainskaya Pravda” (Ukrainian Truth), an old-fashioned name which recalled the country’s Soviet past but in a completely new form - virtual. The colours prevailing on the front page were black, grey and red. That is how Georgyj saw the Ukraine at that time - looking into the future but burdened by remnants of the past.

Although “Ukrainskaya Pravda” did not have many readers at the beginning, it appeared that it was read by all of the people it criticized. As discovered later, even Ukraine’s President read the paper. To Georgyj Gongadze’s misfortune.

Experts believe that if the murder had been thoroughly investigated from the very beginning, those responsible for it would have been convicted long ago. But all this time, authorities were resisting the investigation and covering up their murderous tracks. Surveillance reports were destroyed and a witness who could have shed some light on the journalist’s murder mysteriously died in prison.

At first, authorities rejected the very possibility of a recording having been made in the President’s office. Then they declared that the tapes where Kuchma speaks about Gongadze were rigged.

Kuchma’s aides tried to do everything for the case to be forgotten. They were afraid of what the investigations could reveal. But Georgyj’s colleagues and friends in the Ukraine and abroad kept the case under scrutiny and joined forces in the struggle for their right to know the truth and punish the murderers.

As the result of the attention given to the case by the UK & Ireland National Union of Journalists, Reporters Sans Frontiers, International Federation of Journalists, and the Committee to Protect Journalists, each foreign leader meeting with President Kuchma considered it a duty to remind him of the need to conduct a transparent investigation of Gongadze’s murder.

In response, Ukrainian authorities had to imitate an investigation. On numerous occasions, law enforcers reported that they had found Georgyj’s murderers. Among them were drug-addicts, unknown citizen K and a gang of former militiamen.

During Kuchma’s reign there was little hope for a proper investigation of the case. Today, as a new force comes to power, there is not only hope, but a conviction that the investigation will result in a trial.

Only one month after new ministers were appointed, President Yushenko announced that Georgyj’s murderers had been arrested. It has been reported that they are testifying. One suspect is in detention. All are militia officers that were in active duty at the time of the murder.

In March 2005, the former minister of internal affairs committed suicide. The same man that Kuchma spoke to about Gongadze. And quite possibly the one that gave the order to his subordinates. In any case, he will not be able to tell us about this personally. There are doubts that he ended his life voluntarily - those who commit suicide rarely shoot themselves twice. And although the investigators insist that this was a suicide, many doubts and questions remain.

One thing is certain - the current investigators are preparing a court case against the suspects who confessed carrying out the journalist’s murder. So there is a high probability that the executers of the order will be punished.

But will those who made the order and organized the murder be brought to justice?

True, one of those suspected in having ordered the murder order never directly asked the minister to kill Georgyj. But mafia dons never speak of such things literally. It is typical for them to say: “I’m tired of this person” or “This insolent journalist irritates me”. Subordinates in such structures know very well what such words mean and don’t have to be told twice.

Former authorities had every opportunity to conduct a transparent investigation and find the murderers. Ex-president Kuchma declared that no one was as interested as he in solving Gongadze’s case. But these were merely declarations. His actions were quite different.

Georgyj Gongadze left behind two wonderful daughters that will learn about their father only from the stories that their mother and grandmother tell them and from the numerous films about his mysterious death. Many of those who joined the demonstrations of protest did this because they knew that if they do not do everything to reveal the truth they would not be able to look into the eyes of Georgyj’s children.

The truth has to be revealed not only for his children. It is needed to protect the health of the entire nation. Justice and inevitability of punishment for crimes, regardless of official position, must be proved today to make the future possible.