YUSCHENKO GUARANTEES KUCHMA'S IMMUNITY: RADA ACTIVIST

KIEV, March 10 (RIA Novosti) - Victor Yuschenko, then presidential hopeful, vouched to outgoing President Leonid Kuchma immunity to criminal liability as the latest presidential pre-election campaign was on in Ukraine. The information reached Novosti/Ukraine news agency as it was interviewing Grigori Omelchenko, chair of a parliamentary ad hoc team that is investigating opposition journalist Georgi Gongadze murder.

Mr. Yuschenko's pledge indicatively coincided in time with several tough parliamentary moves-the Supreme Rada made a Cabinet no-confidence vote, spoke for Prime Minister Victor Yanukovich's dismissal in a landslide vote, and made an abortive attempt to dismiss Gennadi Vasilyev, Prosecutor General, pointed out Mr. Omelchenko.

"We lacked a mere fifteen votes to fire the top prosecutor," he added.

As Messrs. Kuchma and Yuschenko met soon after that, the oppositionary presidential hopeful demanded Vasilyev dismissed in favor of Svyatoslav Piskun, previous Prosecutor General. Mr. Piskun was dismissed, October 2003, on the grounds of adding excessive political coloring to his activities. One of Kiev's district courts reinstated him in the office, December 9, 2004.