KIEV, July 22 (RIA Novosti) - A former officer in the interior ministry has been detained in central Ukraine for the murder nine years ago of Ukrainian journalist Georgiy Gongadze, the national Inter TV channel said on Wednesday.
Gongadze, known for his criticism of the Ukrainian government, was kidnapped on September 16, 2000, and his decapitated body found two months later in a wood near Kiev. The murder sparked protests against the then president, Leonid Kuchma.
Inter reported citing the Prosecutor General's Office that former Ukrainian Interior Ministry officer Lt. Gen. Oleksa Pukach has been arrested and taken to a detention center in Kiev.
Three men were sentenced to 12-13 years in prison for Gongadze's killing by a court in Kiev in March last year.
The three men - Col. Valeriy Kostenko, Col. Mykola Protasov and Maj. Oleksandr Popovych - were all senior officers in the interior ministry. They were arrested in August 2005. Kostenko and Popovych received 12-year sentences, and Prostasov 13 years.
The officers, who admitted the murder, said earlier that the killing had been carried out on orders from Pukach, who was responsible for surveillance of Gongadze at the time of the kidnapping.
Pukach evaded arrest and fled to Israel several years ago. He was put on Ukraine's most-wanted list.
