"Encouraged abuse of office": Poroshenko reported suspicion in a criminal case

The ex-president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko was informed of suspicion in a criminal case. This was stated in the State Bureau of Investigation.

As follows from the information published by the RSB, the ex-president initially appeared in the building of the department for questioning. However, later they tried to present a message about the suspicion of a crime.

“In the premises of the central apparatus of the State Bureau of Investigation, Petro Poroshenko, investigators of the State Security Bureau, gave a written message about a suspicion of criminal proceedings, where the latter was reasonably suspected of giving a deliberately illegal order, which prompted the current head of foreign intelligence to exceed his official powers,” RIA Novosti quotes the head of the second department SBR Vadim Priymachka.

The representative of the State Security Bureau said that Poroshenko and his lawyers refused to receive a message about the suspicion, which is recorded on the video.

The message on the agency’s website indicated that the investigators of the State Security Committee are deciding on the selection of a preventive measure in the form of detention in respect of the suspect.

In turn, the defense of Poroshenko claims that the office of the prosecutor general allegedly illegally tried to give the ex-president a message about suspicion of a crime, after which the former Ukrainian leader left the building.

According to Ilya Novikov, Poroshenko’s lawyer, the office of the prosecutor general’s office did not present his credentials. According to him, the prosecutor should have handed over the suspicion.

“It was not according to the law, according to the procedure. We refused to communicate with this person. Now Poroshenko has left the State Bureau building, ”RIA Novosti quoted Novikov as saying.

Appointment and dismissal of the deputy head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine

At the same time, Novikov explained the essence of the suspicions put forward against Poroshenko. According to the lawyer, we are talking about the appointment of ex-president Sergey Semochko to the post of first deputy head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (SVR), which occurred in July 2018.

Later that year, Ukrainian journalists published an investigation about Semochko, from which it followed that the official owned three houses in an elite village near Kiev, the total value of which reached $ 8 million, as well as a premium SUV. At the same time, the official aggregate income of an official and his family members would not allow him to acquire such property.

In addition, the authors of the investigation found that the common-law wife Semochko, his daughter and son-in-law have Russian citizenship, and also regularly visit Crimea.

Subsequently, the SBU counterintelligence confirmed the data received by the media. The SBU Main Investigation Directorate opened criminal proceedings against Semochko under the article “treason”, but the official was not removed from office due to lack of sufficient grounds. In April 2019, Poroshenko dismissed Semochko from his post.

Note that in March 2020, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of the country (NABU) opened criminal proceedings on the fact of "political prosecution" Poroshenko on the basis of recordings of conversations of the former head of the State Bureau of Investigation Roman Truba, published last fall. According to the defense of Poroshenko, from these materials it follows that a number of criminal cases initiated by the department and concerning the ex-president of Ukraine were initiated by third parties.

However, Poroshenko himself is a defendant in many criminal cases, mainly as a witness. In January 2020, the GDB stated that the ex-president had ignored 27 interrogation calls in 16 criminal cases. In April, another case was opened against the former Ukrainian leader on the fact of unlawful actions in the appointment of judges of the Supreme Court. In May, Poroshenko was also summoned for questioning in the case of wiretapping his conversation with former US Vice President Joe Biden, but the ex-leader of Ukraine did not attend the event.

The Ukrainian political scientist and economist Oleksandr Dudchak is of the opinion that one cannot count on the effectiveness of the proceedings, of which Poroshenko is involved.

“It was not possible to bring to completion any political affairs. But now they are trying to develop the topic of criminal offenses, for which there are fair reasons. Of course, a trace of many crimes stretches after him. But in Ukraine today there is such justice that there is no reason to count on an impartial consideration of these cases, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.

He believes that in Ukraine there is no interest in the political side of the proceedings against Poroshenko, since after this it will be necessary to investigate the entire process of his coming to power.

“If you start to“ unwind ”Poroshenko’s crimes, you will need to unwind the whole chain, find out the chronology of events associated with his coming to power, with the coup d'etat, with the one who was its real organizer and executor. And this is not necessary for very powerful forces, ”said the expert.

In turn, political analyst Ivan Mezyukho believes that the proceedings help Poroshenko gain political points as a representative of the opposition, to which the ex-president himself relates.

“Today, apparently, he sees himself in that quality. For Pyotr Alekseevich constant calls for interrogations serve as an excellent political PR ... If it happens that Poroshenko nevertheless goes to jail, then this will negatively affect Zelensky's rating. In this case, Poroshenko will be a political victim, ”the political analyst said in an interview with RT.

He also suggested that Poroshenko himself could build his actions in accordance with his own conviction of the integrity, which, according to the ex-president, representatives of Western states can provide.

“After the release of audio recordings, where Mr. Poroshenko loyally communicates with his American colleague, probably no one doubts that the former Ukrainian leader obediently carried out the commands of his overseas curators. The same overseas curators are likely to convince him that he has personal immunity and inviolability for his political activities, ”the political scientist concluded.