A Ukrainian judge today rejected a request by prosecutors to arrest former President Petro Poroshenko on charges of high treason at a televised hearing.
Judge Oleksiy Sokolov said, however, that Poroshenko would have to appear before prosecutors and investigators if summoned.
Poroshenko is being investigated for treason in a case he says was fabricated by allies of his successor, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Critics say the case is a reckless distraction at a time when Ukraine may be facing a military strike by Russia.
Poroshenko, 56, is accused of high treason in connection with the financing of Russian-backed separatist fighters through illegal coal sales in 2014-15.
If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison. His party had accused Zelensky of trying to silence his political opponents.
The Zelensky government claims that prosecutors and judges are independent and accuses Poroshenko of putting himself above the law.
Zelensky defeated Poroshenko by an overwhelming majority in the 2019 elections with the slogan of fighting corruption and limiting the influence of oligarchs in the former Soviet republic.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who is visiting Kiev, today called on Ukraine’s leaders to present a united front against Russia.
“I think one of Russia’s long-term goals is to try to sow divisions between countries and within them, and we just can not and will not let it do that,” he said during a meeting with Zelensky.
“So our message to all our friends here, to all the political leaders of Ukraine, as well as to its citizens, is to stay united and to keep this unity, to strengthen it. It has never been more important, especially as the country is facing the possibility of a new Russian attack “.
Earlier, police clashed with supporters of the former president.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.
“They want to take what is inside the tents, they take us out of them. They surrounded us. There is a thermos with tea in the tents,” a man told Ukraine 24.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source From: Capital
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