At the request of the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), the court limited the time for familiarization with the “coal case” for the defendants in the case (in particular, MP, leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko) and their defense lawyers, the SBI reports.
“At the request of the State Bureau of Investigations, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv limited the time for familiarization with the case for the fifth President of Ukraine, now a member of parliament of Ukraine, whom the Bureau suspects of committing treason and assisting the activities of terrorist organizations. In accordance with the court ruling, the deadline for familiarization with the materials of the pretrial investigation is set until April 15, 2025,” the Bureau said on its Telegram channel on Tuesday.
The State Bureau of Investigations recalls that earlier, the Bureau’s investigators filed a motion with the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv to set a deadline for the suspects, the current and former MPs (Poroshenko and Viktor Medvedchuk, respectively) and the top manager of the coal sector, as well as their defense lawyers, to familiarize themselves with the materials of the pretrial investigation.
The State Bureau of Investigations completed the investigation of the criminal case on the organization of a criminal scheme for the supply of coal from the temporarily occupied territories and assistance to the terrorist organizations “LPR” and “DPR” by a group of Ukrainian citizens for a total of about UAH 1.5 billion on September 2, 2022.
At the same time, the case materials were transferred for review to the defense and the suspects. “However, the suspects, in particular the current MP, are abusing their procedural rights and do not appear to review the case materials,” the report notes.
The fifth President of Ukraine is suspected of having acted in collusion with a group of individuals, including representatives of the top leadership of the Russian Federation, to facilitate the activities of the terrorist organizations “LPR” and “DPR”.
In September-November 2021, another former deputies and the Minister of Energy were notified of suspicion in the said proceedings.
They are suspected of purchasing coal in ORDLO with state funds. According to the investigation, by their actions the defendants in the case made Ukraine’s energy sector dependent on the Russian Federation and terrorist organizations. This, in turn, undermined the economic security of the state in 2014-2015, deprived it of opportunities to diversify sources of energy supplies, and also provided the Russian Federation with broader opportunities for further interference in Ukraine’s internal affairs and subversive activities against it.
The proceedings were carried out under Part 1 and Part 3 of Article 258-5 (financing of terrorism), Part 1 of Article 111 (high treason) and Part 1 of Article 258-3 (assistance to the activities of a terrorist organization) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The sanctions of the above-mentioned articles provide for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 15 years with or without confiscation of property.