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July 23, 2009 / 10:17 AM

Ukraine detains ex-general in murder case

Former police officer Mykola Protasov stands in the defendant's cage guarded by court security during his trial at the Ukraine's appeal court in Kiev, January 9, 2006. Three former police officers are accused of the murder in 2000 of Ukrainian opposition journalist Georgy Gongadze, a killing seen as a landmark on the road to the "orange revolution" protests in the ex-Soviet nation. The death of Gongadze, whose headless corpse was found in a wood in November 2000, undermined the rule of then-President Leonid Kuchma, who faced accusations of covering up the killing. (UPI Photo/Sergey Starostenko)

1 of 3 | Former police officer Mykola Protasov stands in the defendant's cage guarded by court security during his trial at the Ukraine's appeal court in Kiev, January 9, 2006. Three former police officers are accused of the murder in 2000 of Ukrainian opposition journalist Georgy Gongadze, a killing seen as a landmark on the road to the "orange revolution" protests in the ex-Soviet nation. The death of Gongadze, whose headless corpse was found in a wood in November 2000, undermined the rule of then-President Leonid Kuchma, who faced accusations of covering up the killing. (UPI Photo/Sergey Starostenko) | License Photo

KIEV, Ukraine, July 23 (UPI) -- Former Ukrainian Gen. Oleksiy Pukach, suspected of killing journalist Georgiy Gongadze, is helping investigators to solve the 9-year-old case, officials said.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said Pukach, a former police general arrested Tuesday near the capital Kiev, was showing readiness to help investigators, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported Thursday.

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Vasyl Hrystak, a deputy police chief, told reporters in Kiev Wednesday that during the investigation Pukach cited names of high-ranking officials who reportedly were involved in the slaying of Gongadze in 2000, the Ukrinform news agency said.

Prosecutors have alleged Pukach organized surveillance of Gongadze, an investigative reporter specializing in corruption, then kidnapped and strangled the journalist.

Gongadze disappeared in September 2000. His decapitated body was found later in the woods outside Kiev.

In March 2008, a court sentenced three former police officers to prison terms ranging from 12 years to 13 years for kidnapping and killing Gongadze.

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