Cassette Scandal
2000 political scandal in Ukraine
The Cassette Scandal (Ukrainian: Касетний скандал, romanised: Kasetnyi skandal [kɐˈsɛtnɪj skɐnˈdɑl]), also known as Tapegate or Kuchmagate (Ukrainian: Кучмагейт, romanised: Kuchmaheit), was a 2000 political scandal and political crisis in Ukraine caused by the emergence of recordings, alleged by former presidential bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko to be of president Leonid Kuchma. In the tapes, the voice claimed to be Kuchma's is implicated in involvement in organised crime and corruption, surveillance of opposition politicians, voter intimidation and attacks on the independent media, including organising the kidnapping of journalist Georgiy Gongadze.
The reveal of the recordings by Socialist Party of Ukraine deputy Oleksandr Moroz, coming after Gongadze's decapitated corpse was found in a forest outside the city of Tarashcha, resulted in widespread protests against Kuchma's government and criticism from Western countries. In response, Kuchma's government abandoned Ukraine's policy of European integration, pursuing increased Russia–Ukraine relations. Further recordings, publicised in 2002, alleged that Kuchma had sold the Kolchuga radar system to Ba'athist Iraq, then under international sanctions. Kuchma later led Ukraine into the Iraq War, preventing the collapse of Ukraine–United States relations and international isolation.
The Cassette Scandal led to the dissolution of the post-1991 governing coalition between the oligarchs and national democrats. The results of the scandal, including decreased public trust in the government, youth radicalisation, the growth of civil society and non-governmental organisations and the cooperation of national democrats with leftists, led to the Orange Revolution. Multiple individuals, including Kuchma, have been tried for their role in the scandal, though Kuchma's trial ended after the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the recordings were inadmissible as evidence.
Background
Leonid Kuchma was re-elected as president of Ukraine in the 1999 presidential election.
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