(20 Oct 2002)
1. Opposition rally at Independence square in Kiev
2. Rally
3. Opposition leader Yulia Timoshenko and Alexander Moroz lead the march
4. Protesters carrying lit candles
5. Protesters installing sign saying" the monument to Kuchma's victims will be erected here"
6. Protesters lighting candles
7. Sign
8. Yulia Timoshenko talking to protesters
9. Protesters
10.SOUNDBITE (Russian) Alexander Moroz, leader of Socialist party of Ukraine:
"With our action today we want to commemorate the victims of the current regime. That's why we carry candles to the place where we intend to erect a monument in a memory of victims one day"
11. Protesters chanting "Down with Kuchma"
12. SOUNDBITE: (Ukrainian) VOX POP Olena (first name only):
"I hope that sooner or later our demands will be met and Kuchma will resign. Ukraine cannot tolerate him remaining a president any longer ."
13. Protest
14. Candles burning
STORYLINE:
Thousands of Ukrainians on Saturday demanded President Leonid Kuchma's ouster and early elections in the third nationwide opposition protest in a month.
For the largest rally, some 5,000 people gathered in central Independence Square in the capital Kiev.
The crowd of protesters walked in procession with hundreds of burning candles to the presidential administration building, where protesters installed a commemoration sign in memory of those they claim have suffered from Kuchma's policies.
The protest came just days after a judge ordered an investigation into opposition lawmakers' accusations that Kuchma violated 11 articles of the criminal code - for alleged involvement in the sale of military technology to Iraq and in the killing of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, who crusaded against high-level corruption.
Earlier this week, pro-Kuchma officials stated that the judge overstepped his authority by opening the criminal case, because the president enjoys prosecutorial immunity.
Kuchma has denied that he was involved in Gongadze's death or approved the sale of a radar to Iraq, and has refused resignation calls from tens of thousands of protesters who have taken to the streets over the past month in the largest demonstrations since Ukraine's independence in 1991.
Since Monday, a team of 13 US and British arms experts have been investigating whether Ukraine has sent any radar systems to Iraq. The US State Department said it verified the authenticity of a July 2000 recording by former bodyguard in which Kuchma is allegedly heard approving the sale of such a system to Baghdad.
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