the editor and associates of hard-hitting web site ukrainska pravda allege they are being harassed by ukrainian authorities

unidentified law-enforcement officers have allegedly been harassing the editor and several staff members of ukrainska pravda (ukrainian truth), a popular independent internet publication on ukrainian politics.

on july 14, the site’s editor-in-chief, georgy gongadze, appealed in an open letter to ukraine’s prosecutor general to reign in their sleuths, who he accuses of harassing his family, friends, employees and potential contributors.

all five of the electronic paper’s employees have been approached by security officers over the past two weeks and quizzed about trade in narcotics, chechen killings and their possible involvement in other illegal activities.

according to gongadze, plainclothes agents have even been knocking on doors and interviewing relatives in his hometown of lviv.

“they even interviewed my mother in lviv,” said gongadze, who speculated that officials were looking for a pretext to scare off employees and run off potential investors who have expressed an interest in his site.

interior ministry spokesman viktor sidorenko told the post on july 17 that he was unaware of any investigation of gongadze or of the employees of the site.

he was unwilling to comment further.

“why should i tell you anything? i have never seen you before,” he told a post reporter.

ukrainska pravda offers free daily news reports and analysis on economic and political developments in ukraine.

many of the articles posted on the site are written by correspondents of grani, a newspaper associated with socialist party leader oleksandr moroz, who has consistently criticized policies implemented by president kuchma and his influential backers.

“we are independent financially and editorially and have rejected offers from well-connected ukrainian businessmen to invest in the site,” said associate editor olena pritula, who admitted that articles appearing on her site have been critical of government officials and their policies.

radio continent general director serhy sholokh, gongadze’s former boss, said that on july 10 a colonel from the interior ministry interviewed him about whether it was possible that gongadze could or would associate himself with armed insurrection groups.

“it was a strange conversation that lasted about an hour,” said sholokh, who denied the possibility that the exercise could be a stunt designed to increase traffic on ukrainska pravda’s web site.

“gongadze has never hidden the fact that he is not a fan of president kuchma,” sholokh said.

ukrainska pravda is not the only media outlet being subjected to such probes. no less than three individuals working closely with foreign media outlets recently told the post off the record about being subjected to questioning similar to that experienced by ukrainska pravda employees. the journalists asked for anonymity because they were afraid of being fired if their identities became known.

kuchma was rated the world’s sixth worst enemy of the press by the new york-based committee to protect journalists in late may of last year. he has vehemently denied all past allegations that his administration interferes with free press or intimidates media outlets.

foreign media watchdog organizations, including arms of the organization for security and cooperation in europe and the council of europe, reported that the kuchma administrations’ record on free speech worsened in advance of the presidential election last year. kuchma was roundly criticized for using his power to manipulate and intimidate both voters and independent media in his drive for a second term in office.

a recent poll of leading journalists conducted by respected weekly zerkalo nedeli indicated asked journalists what subjective factors hinder impartial coverage of news in ukraine. journalists listed shortage of information, fear and faintheartedness as the top-three factors.