Zelensky dismisses claims of persecution against Poroshenko

Former Ukrainian President Poroshenko is making
himself out to be a victim amid his current judicial problems, President
Zelensky said in an interview with theglobeandmail.com news site published on
June 22. “We are on the cusp of local elections. That’s one more of his big
political cases. He wants to be a victim. He wants for everyone to believe that
there’s political persecution in Ukraine. The majority of people in Ukraine understand
that this is similar to political theatre,” Zelensky said.

State prosecutors announced at a June 18 court hearing
that they will not seek detention in jail under bail former President
Poroshenko, a reversal of the position announced by Prosecutor General Iryna
Venediktova two days earlier. Prosecutors said they changed their stance in
order to allow Poroshenko to attend parliamentary sessions and engage in the
local election campaign. Instead of jail, prosecutors said they will ask the
court to require Poroshenko to not leave Kyiv without permission, to refrain
from communicating with other subjects in the case, and to surrender his
foreign passport. The court set that hearing for July 1.

Facing at least a dozen criminal cases, the June 18
hearing involved the case in which Poroshenko allegedly issued an illegal order
to force Yegor Bozhok – the then-head of the Foreign Intelligence Service – to
exceed his powers and state authority when appointing his first deputy, Serhiy
Semochko. Ukraine’s cabinet decided on June 23 to satisfy the request made by
Yegor Bozhok to be placed on leave from his position as deputy foreign
minister, based on his direct role in the criminal case against former
President Poroshenko.

Zenon Zawada: Besides his
close associates Andriy Portnov (of the Yanukovych clan) and magnate Ihor
Kolomoisky, Zelensky has his own personal axe to grind against Poroshenko in
what we believe – sharing a widely held view – is a campaign of political
persecution. Zelensky indicated his personal animus towards Poroshenko in an
interview published on June 11 by the pravda.com.ua news site, labeling him “an
experienced manipulator” and recalling how his campaign spread nasty smears
against him, among other offenses.

Despite trying to shift the blame on Poroshenko, it’s
Zelensky who has made the otherwise widely resented Poroshenko out to be a
victim. It’s Zelensky that has turned his criminal prosecution into political
theatre, having allowed for more than a dozen criminal cases to be opened, and
numerous notices of suspicion to be issued, without the start of a single
criminal trial. Instead, Zelensky is toying with Poroshenko, partly as
television fodder for his electorate, and partly to fulfill appetites to
inflict suffering.

If Zelensky were serious about rule of law, he
would bring Poroshenko to a court trial that reaches a verdict. We don’t
believe that will happen, partly because of the warnings issued by Western
governments (including the European Parliament). We speculate that it was Andriy
Yermak, the head of the president’s office, who told Venediktova to refrain
from detaining Poroshenko (which was likely sought by Portnov, as part of our
speculation). But also, Zelensky has shown he is not a politician of
conviction, but a politician of convenience who consistently pursues the
easiest political solution in a difficult situation.