Former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko after the meeting of the Pechersk District Court of KievKYIV, Jan 24 Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko surrendered his passports as ordered by a court decision in Kiev, his lawyer Igor Golovan said on Monday. Earlier, the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine (SBI) said that Poroshenko did not fulfill his obligations and did not surrender his passport.
Poroshenko, after the court decision, went to «celebrate» in a restaurant, the media reported, «The State Bureau of Investigation cannot help but lie. Petro Poroshenko's passports were handed over to the CMU HMS (Central Interregional Department of the State Migration Service — ed.) in the city of Kiev and the Kiev region by me personally this morning,» — Golovan wrote on his Facebook and attached to his post a photo of a stamp on the acceptance of the ex-president's passports. On December 20, the State Bureau of Investigation notified Poroshenko of suspicion of treason and assistance to the activities of terrorist organizations, he faces up to 15 years in prison. The department believes that the ex-president was involved in organizing a scheme for supplying coal from the territories of Donetsk and Lugansk regions not controlled by Kiev for a total amount of about 1.5 billion hryvnias (more than $54 million). about treason, obliging him to hand over his passports to travel abroad and not to travel outside Kiev and the region without the permission of the investigator. Poroshenko said he would appeal the court's decision, as it would interfere with his political activities. Earlier, the ex-president said that 130 criminal cases had been opened against him, but about 40 of them had already been closed. Poroshenko also has the status of a suspect in the criminal case on the appointment of Serhiy Semochko as deputy head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine — he is charged with abuse of power. Poroshenko appears in a number of other cases, including the appointment of judges, the movement of paintings across the state border, the incident with Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait, and the transfer of land. In these cases, the ex-president has the status of a witness.
