circumstances of Melnychenko's records and Georgiy Gongadze's death remains inconclusive despite a mass of information revealed by numerous journalistic investigations. Melnychenko's recordings were declared evidence when Kuchma was charged with abuse of office and giving illegal orders to Interior Ministry officials; a criminal case into the murder of Gongadze was opened against Kuchma on 21 March 2011. A Ukrainian district court ordered prosecutors to drop criminal charges against Kuchma on 14 December 2011 on grounds that evidence linking him to the murder of Gongadze was insufficient. The court rejected Melnychenko's recordings as evidence. See also Myroslava Gongadze, widow of Georgiy Gongadze. Orange Revolution Ukrayinska Pravda, newspaper founded by Gongadze Mykola Melnychenko, bodyguard of the former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. Politics of Ukraine History of Ukraine References Further reading slate.com - Article on Gongadze scandal REQUIEM'2002 - Article by Reporters Sans Frontières Guardian Unlimited - Kuchmagate 2000 in Ukraine History of Ukraine since 1991 Political scandals in Ukraine Ukrayinska Pravda Leonid Kuchma 2000 scandals November 2000 events in Ukraine