Supreme Court cancels Poroshenko decree dismissing Semochko

The Supreme Court of Ukraine ruled on Jan. 14 to
cancel the 2019 decree of then-President Poroshenko dismissing Serhiy Semochko
as first deputy head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, which it determined
to have been illegal, the pravda.com.ua news site said, citing the court’s
press service. In particular, Poroshenko’s decree of Apr. 12, 2019 was made “in
violation of the procedure in preparing the decree.” In June, the same court
decided not to review the same complaint, a ruling that Semochko appealed. The
court also ruled not to reinstate Semochko as first deputy head of the Foreign
Intelligence Service, the pravda.com.ua news site said, citing the body’s press
service.

Recall, among the dozen-plus criminal cases filed
against former President Poroshenko is having issued an illegal order in July
2018 to force Yegor Bozhok – the then-head of the Foreign Intelligence Service
– to exceed his state authority when appointing Semochko. Poroshenko has
alleged that this criminal case is evidence of political persecution, and he
did nothing wrong. Zelensky has denied any persecution. Meanwhile, the
appointment of Semochko is alleged to be illegal because he has eight relatives
with Russian citizenship.

Zenon Zawada: The most
significance of this ruling is that it will serve as precedent for other
complaints involving Semochko, who stands accused of corruption involving his
real estate holdings. Semochko won’t be returning to state service as well,
which denies him political leverage in his other complaints.

But in the big picture, the ruling doesn’t affect
the key complaint in the Semochko affair that was filed against Poroshenko (for
allegedly pressuring Bozhok to exceed his authority in appointing Semochko).
Semochko’s cases are significant in that they’ve given state prosecutors
additional avenues by which they can pursue criminal cases against Poroshenko.