On Monday, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko returned to Ukraine from Poland to present himself in front of Kyiv’s Pechersk District Court, after he was placed under investigation for high treason last December. The 56-year-old Poroshenko served as the country’s president from 2014 to 2019 and has been a huge critic of his successor Volodymyr Zelensky.
Despite a scuffle at the airport wherein Poroshenko accused the border patrol authorities of trying to confiscate his passport, he exited the airport safely and was greeted by thousands of supporters who were waving the Ukrainian flag and also held posters and banners reading, “We need democracy,” “Stop repressions” and “Hands off Poroshenko.”
Poroshenko stopped to address the crowd saying that he was back to help Ukraine with the ongoing crisis with Russia and added that Zelensky had “betrayed” the country. “We are not here to protect Poroshenko, but to unite and protect Ukraine,” Poroshenko told the crowd, adding, “Now I’m heading to the court where we’ll give them a fight.”
In a video message before his arrival, Poroshenko said, “We are ready to help the authorities. We are ready to share our thoughts and advice.” Poroshenko’s hearing lasted for almost eleven hours. During a break in the court session, Poroshenko said, “The authorities are confused, weak and instead of fighting [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, they are trying to fight us.” Prosecutors have demanded that the former president pay $35 million in bail and have requested a ban on Poroshenko’s international travel. Pechersk District Court Judge Oleksiy Sokolov announced that the ex-president’s verdict will be declared on January 19.
The prosecutor’s treason charge alleges that Poroshenko financed Russia-backed separatists that fuelled the conflict in eastern Ukraine during 2014 and 2015. Poroshenko procured power-generating coal from mining companies in Russia-controlled parts of Luhansk and Donetsk, thereby helping Russian-proxies that are considered terrorist organisations under the Ukrainian legislation. Poroshenko has dismissed and denied all allegations, referring to them as “political persecution.” If convicted, Poroshenko faces up to 15 years in prison.
Poroshenko is one of Ukraine’s richest businessmen with an estimated fortune of $1.6 billion as per Forbes. He is also called Ukraine’s “chocolate king” since he made his money in the confectionery industry. He was elected president following the Russian invasion of Crimea but was defeated by Zelensky, a comedian with no previous political experience in the 2019 election. According to The Kyiv Independent, Poroshenko is under “dozens of investigations” since the 2019 election, but he has been charged for only two—the ongoing treason case and another June 2020 case about abuse of office.
Poroshenko has criticised Zelensky for using the investigation as a means to politically distract from Ukraine’s widespread problems such as the COVID-19 pandemic and economic worries. However, Zelensky insists that he is fighting Ukraine’s oligarchs.