The State Bureau of Investigation has begun an investigation into the fact of Petro Poroshenko’s seizure of state power and failure to comply with a court decision when appointing members of the High Council of Justice under his control, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The former deputy head of the Presidential Administration during the times of Viktor Yanukovych, lawyer Andrei Portnov, reported this in his telegram channel.
“Let me remind you that Poroshenko violated a direct injunction, in violation of the requirements of the law, by his own Decree he canceled the terms of the competition and, acting deliberately, by prior conspiracy by an organized group of people, in order to maintain control over the judicial system, after losing the elections, he illegally appointed two members of the highest body of the justice system,” he wrote.
Article 109 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine incriminated against Poroshenko, as amended, which Poroshenko himself once introduced into the Criminal Code, does not provide for any other preventive measure other than detention.
“I am sure that if the State Bureau of Investigation operates at least at an average pace, Poroshenko could be placed in a pre-trial detention center by the beginning of July,” Portnov concluded.
As PolitNavigator reported, on May 20, Portnov filed a statement with the State Bureau of Investigation accusing ex-President Poroshenko of committing a crime. He later stated that he had filed another statement against Poroshenko.
On May 24, Portnov filed a third application against Poroshenko with the SBI, which related to money laundering, legalization of illegal income and tax evasion. Later, the State Bureau of Investigation began a preliminary investigation into possible high treason by Poroshenko. On May 27, the lawyer registered a fourth statement with the State Bureau of Investigation, in which the ex-president is accused of attempting to usurp judicial power.