Ex-president to face treason charges
KIEV: Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko arrived in Kiev yesterday planning to fight treason charges that he denies.
Mr Poroshenko, who leads a party that’s in opposition to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, faces accusations of high treason for coal trading deals with Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine’s east.
The charges come as tensions in the regional have escalated in recent weeks as Russia continues to keep troops near its border with Ukraine, a move that may be a preparation for a full-scale invasion, according to Western allies. Russia has repeatedly said it doesn’t plan to invade.
A court ordered the seizure of Mr Poroshenko’s assets, including real estate and companies listed in the state registry. He and his allies called this a politically motivated attack by Mr Zelenskiy, who took power in 2019.
Speaking to reporters in Warsaw on Sunday, Mr Poroshenko said he was innocent and blamed his successor for using the fight against him to distract citizens from other problems the country faces.
Mr Poroshenko, now worth US$860 million
(28 billion baht) according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, is accused of using state finances to buy coal from mines controlled by Russia-backed separatists in 2014 and 2015 thus impeding diversification of energy sources and causing increased dependency on Russian fuels. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Last week, prosecutors said they would seek his detention or bail of 1 billion hryvnia (1.1 billion baht) upon his return to Ukraine as part of pretrial investigation.
According to his lawyers, his return has been announced, and he is willing to attend a court hearing without preventive detention. The hearing is set for 11am in Kiev.