The Ministry of Justice submitted documents to the Cassation Administrative Court of the Supreme Court on the grounds for sanctions against Petro Poroshenko. The sanctions were imposed preventively and allegedly have no legal basis. And the documents themselves, in particular the NSDC decision and the Presidential Decree, were falsified.
This was reported by Petro Poroshenko himself, who the day before had reviewed the document, which, according to him, unjustifiably has the status of "for official use."
On Thursday, April 17, the Supreme Court began considering the case regarding sanctions against Poroshenko.
"And only in response to the courtʼs decision did we read that it turns out that the sanctions, as the president directly stated in his response, are of a preventive nature. We now have a norm, in the presidentʼs opinion, in the form of a ʼthought crime,ʼ" said Pero Poroshenko during the meeting.
The European Solidarity Party, led by Petro Poroshenko, published a photo of the document the politician was talking about.
"The Ministry of Economy, as I said in my speech, is reasonably suspected of falsifying the materials they submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers," said Petro Poroshenko.
The ex-president claims that Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, in particular, is involved in this. He says that this is how she is "saving Zelensky".
"The presidential office and the NSDC apparatus falsified the decree. And Zelensky did not sign what was made public. I wanted to say that I personally saw with my own eyes a document of different content — the same date, but with a difference of two hours — which was completely rewritten and under which is the signature of the Minister of Economy, Ms. Svyrydenko. I firmly assert that one of the reasons for involving the Ministry of Economy is to cover up a crime," said Petro Poroshenko.
He stressed that his legal team would file a criminal complaint "in the near future".
The ex-president also stated that the next court hearing, which will take place on May 13, will be held behind closed doors by various authorities, including banning journalists and diplomats from entering.
What preceded
On February 13, President Zelensky imposed NSDC sanctions against Petro Poroshenko, Viktor Medvedchuk, Kostyantyn Zhevago, Hennadii Boholyubov, and Ihor Kolomoiskyi. Babel reported on what they are now prohibited from doing. SBU explained that they threaten state security and hinder “the sustainable economic development of Ukraine”.
The sanctions were imposed due to the withdrawal of billions of hryvnias during the war, Zelensky said. Zelensky also said he had information about alleged money laundering through funds intended to support the Ukrainian army. According to him, money from the funds was transferred to members of the European Solidarity party.
The President also added that those who have been subject to sanctions can return the withdrawn funds to the budget. They will be directed to the Armed Forces. Then the sanctions will be lifted, Zelensky said.
Petro Poroshenko called the decision to impose sanctions against him “unconstitutional” and “politically motivated”. He said that President Volodymyr Zelensky’s entire team, the Cabinet of Ministers, and members of the National Security and Defense Council were allegedly involved in this.
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