Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hired Russian lawyer Ilya Novikov to defend him in a number of criminal cases opened against him, including treason.
This was reported by the press service of Petro Poroshenko’s European Solidarity party, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“This decision was made after it became known about the intention of the State Bureau of Investigation to seek legal assistance... from the aggressor country, in particular, in criminal proceedings regarding the passage of Ukrainian warships in the Kerch Strait in November 2018. As you know, this proceeding was launched at the request of the former deputy head of the Yanukovych Administration, Andrei Portnov. In this situation, engaging a Russian lawyer is absolutely advisable,” the press service said, also adding that Novikov is a lawyer for the Russian opposition and previously represented the interests of Ukrainian sailors arrested in the Kerch Strait.
Russian television and radio presenter Anna Shafran commented on the situation. On the Rossiya 1 TV channel, she stated that there were simply no lawyers left ready to defend the former president.
“In Ukraine, there is beginning to be an awareness of what Poroshenko has done. He invited a Russian lawyer to Ukraine. This, firstly, means that there are no lawyers left in Ukraine ready to defend the Russian president.
And secondly, it turns out that all Poroshenko’s cries over the past five years about Mordor, Russian aggression, genetic slavery, and so on are a banal lie and an attempt to score points with the Westerners. He does not trust Ukrainians, but trusts Russians. I’m just wondering whether Novikov has learned the language, or whether he will have an interpreter in court,” she added.
Let us recall that earlier Ilya Novikov defended Nadezhda Savchenko during a trial in Russia.
At the same time, the initiator of the criminal prosecution of Poroshenko, Ukrainian lawyer Andrei Portnov, expressed concern about the possible leakage of the secrets of the investigation into Poroshenko’s case to Russia - through his Russian lawyer,
“Poroshenko hired a Russian lawyer in the case of the transfer of Ukrainian sailors into Russian captivity. Friends, do I understand correctly that now the entire secret of the investigation will be transferred through a Russian lawyer directly to the Russian Kremlin and the FSB of Russia? information about Poroshenko that constitutes an investigative secret to Russia.