In Ukraine, the case against Petro Poroshenko is actively being promoted, the ex-president is accused of treason and financing terrorism after buying coal from the republics of Donbass. The politician himself left the country right before the start of the trial, denying all charges. Experts believe that with the help of a criminal case, the authorities are trying to bring down Poroshenko's growing ratings, and they consider his real imprisonment unlikely. Former President of Ukraine, leader of the opposition party "European Solidarity" Petro Poroshenko recorded a video message after the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) of the country suspected him of committing high treason. According to the ex-president, in this case his successor Volodymyr Zelensky crossed the "red lines" and he will have to answer for it.

“We'll talk as soon as I get back about high treason and the promotion of terrorist financing. Who is the traitor? The one who liberated 2/3 of the occupied Donbass in 2014, or the one who, through the signing of the disengagement, gave our land to the enemy? The one who authorized dozens of operations that eliminated the enemies of Ukraine, or the one who leaks Lukashenka and Putin the special operations of our intelligence?

Submitting suspicion to the head of state of treason, financing terrorism - this is the transition of "red lines". This is not a joke. The jokes are over. You will have to answer for this, "Poroshenko announced.

The ex-president of Ukraine wrote down his appeal in Poland, where he flew after an attempt by the RRB to hand him a summons to the department to present suspicion. However, the absence of a politician in the country did not prevent the bureau from doing its job - Poroshenko's document was sent by mail, which is equivalent to a personal notification.

The former leader of the state is suspected of treason, financing terrorism and creating a terrorist organization. As noted in the SBR, this is due to the purchase of coal from the self-proclaimed republics of the DPR and LPR in 2014-2015, which are officially considered terrorist organizations in Ukraine.

The department demanded that Poroshenko arrive for interrogation on December 23, promising to resolve the issue of a measure of restraint and declaring the politician wanted if he ignored this request. However, the ex-president himself is not going to return to his homeland yet: according to him, he will arrive in the country only at the beginning of January "according to his own schedule", and not according to the schedule of the "powerful screenwriter" Zelensky.

What is the purpose of the accusations

Zelensky hinted during the 2019 election campaign that he was ready to jail his predecessor. However, during the two years of his rule, the new leader of the state could not do this - the RRB made several attempts to organize cases against Poroshenko, but in the end they did not lead to anything.

As "Strana.ua" writes, this time the situation may be somewhat more serious, since the "coal case" has already led to the house arrest of the head of the political council of the Opposition Platform - For Life party, Viktor Medvedchuk, who is considered a conditionally "pro-Russian" politician in Ukraine.

According to the publication, the main goal of Poroshenko's involvement in this case is to damage the reputation and ratings of the politician, making him a "separatist" and "an accomplice of the occupiers." And also try to divert attention from the failures of Kiev, on which the opposition is actively playing, especially the ex-president himself.

Ruslan Bortnik, director of the Ukrainian Institute for Policy Analysis and Management, in a conversation with expressed the opinion that with the help of criminal proceedings, the Ukrainian authorities are realizing several goals at once.

“This is the fulfillment of Zelensky’s election promise, an action expected by the president’s electorate, as well as an attempt to disarm a group of Ukrainian elites that may be preparing mass protests.

Poroshenko, due to his informational, political and economic influence, is potentially able not only to organize, but also to lead a right-wing protest. Therefore, this case is an attempt to play ahead of the curve. After the authorities managed to solve the problem of Medvedchuk - the left opposition - now they are trying to beat the right one, ”the expert said.

At the same time, the head of the board of the Ukrainian Center for Applied Political Research "Penta" Volodymyr Fesenko believes that this case has little to do with Zelensky's election promises, but threatens Poroshenko with image losses.

“The case arose back in the spring of this year after Medvedchuk's tapes were announced, which dealt with the purchase of coal from CADLO (separate areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as Kiev calls the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR. -) for cash. This became a direct reason for the investigation against Poroshenko, and in this case he will most likely be linked to Medvedchuk in an image and legal manner. The main risks for Poroshenko here are image-related, although a significant part of his supporters, most likely, will not believe in his guilt. He himself will try to drag out this case and neutralize the threat, ”the expert noted.

What will happen to Poroshenko

At the moment, Petro Poroshenko can be called Zelensky's main political rival. According to a poll by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology, the current president leads the rating of Ukrainian politicians, gaining 27.6% of support among respondents. Poroshenko is in second place, receiving 16% of the votes of the Ukrainians. And the top three leaders are closed by the head of HLS Yuriy Boyko - 9.4%.

At the same time, Zelensky's anti-rating has recently shown a fairly serious growth. So, according to KIIS, only 26.4% of Ukrainians approve of the president's work, and 58.6% have a negative attitude. These indicators are worse than in October, when Zelensky's work was supported by 28.2% of respondents, and not approved by 56.9% of respondents.

From the point of view of Ruslan Bortnik from the Institute for Policy Analysis and Management, the "coal case" itself may take many years, since at least 100 persons involved are involved in the investigation.

“Poroshenko’s escape from the country exacerbates the situation as it looks like an admission of guilt or an element of fear and weakness. All this negatively affects his electorate, the promotion of the case in the information space causes serious political damage to the former president.

Probably, if Poroshenko returns to his homeland, he will face at least house arrest. The same happened with Medvedchuk, with whom, most likely, the ex-president was implementing this scheme for the supply of coal from Donbass, "the expert added.

In turn, Volodymyr Fesenko from the Penta Center for Applied Political Research is confident that Poroshenko does not face real imprisonment due to the various risks associated with such a decision.

“The main goal here is not to jail Poroshenko. In our country, hardly anyone can be imprisoned. In the worst case, Poroshenko could face house arrest, since the risks inside and the foreign policy risks associated with his imprisonment are obvious. So the process itself is, in fact, more important than the final result. Probably, this matter will go on for two years, at least until the next presidential elections, ”the expert summed up.

bbabo.Net