DISINFO: Poroshenko is facing diverse criminal charges after the wind has changed
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: francais.rt.com (archived)*
  • Date of publication: May 09, 2019
  • Outlet language(s): French
  • Reported in: Issue 150
  • Countries / regions discussed: Ukraine
Tags:
Petro Poroshenko Euromaidan

DISINFO: Poroshenko is facing diverse criminal charges after the wind has changed

SUMMARY

While Petro Poroshenko must hand over the keys to the presidency before June 2, law enforcement proceedings are accelerating. On May 7, Poroshenko did not appear at the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office. The summons is issued in the framework of the investigation into the Maidan revolution of winter 2014, which resulted in dozens of deaths, and plunged the east of the country into civil war. In November 2017, the Ukrainian judiciary decided to open an “investigation into the seizure of forced power in February 2014”, following a request by the overthrown president in the coup, Viktor Yanukovych. He had asked to investigate the involvement of several Ukrainian officials and politicians in the coup. All this leads to a collapse of the narrative maintained until then by the Ukrainian authorities, the Westerners and the media: a revolution that would be popular, spontaneous … and pro-European Union. The wind seems to have changed. A group of specialists was formed in order to bring the outgoing president to justice. It aims to force the Ukrainian courts and law enforcers to put President Poroshenko and his circle in prison.

RESPONSE

The Ukrainian Prosecutor's office's representative has indeed complained that Petro Poroshenko did not come to the interview, scheduled on May 7, but as a witness in the case of Euromaidan's causalities. The interview of Poroshenko as a witness took place three days later on May 10. No evidence was given that this summons could be evidence against Poroshenko himself. By the end of 2018, 438 people were suspects in Euromaidan murder cases, 52 has been convicted and 9 "Titushkas" (mercenary agents supporting police during Euromaidan clashes) are currently serving real prison terms, according to Ukrainian prosecutors. In 2017, the lawyer of Victor Yanukovych announced that a pretrial investigation number was opened in Ukraine following a complaint from his client. No other confirmations or further information on any possible defendants followed since then, including from the Ukrainian Prosecutor's office. The creation of the "group of specialists formed in order to bring the outgoing president to justice" was announced by the journalist Svetlana Kryukova in Ukraine. She spoke about private detectives looking "for the offshore accounts of Poroshenko" and other evidence of illicit enrichment. However, this private initiative cannot be considered as proof of any criminal charges or pretrial investigations into Poroshenko's activity. The disinformation message also refers to recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the War in East Ukraine.

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Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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