Illegal sanctions against Poroshenko: the Supreme Court is finding more and more falsifications and violations by the authorities
A panel of judges of the Cassation Administrative Court within the Supreme Court continued its consideration of Poroshenko’s claim to overturn the illegal decree imposing sanctions.
According to the fifth President, government officials are doing everything they can to mislead the court and the public, specifically by attempting to keep the proceedings classified. As became clear during the case’s hearing, the documents on the basis of which the sanctions were imposed were submitted to the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) retroactively, after the decision had been made and the Decree signed. The disk containing the materials received by the NSDC was compiled on February 13, while the decision to impose sanctions was made on February 12, 2025.
“The court admitted materials that suggest the documents the government submitted at the beginning of this proceeding, purportedly reflecting the sanctions preparation process, were never actually reviewed by the National Security and Defense Council. In reality, these documents were ready when the National Security and Defense Council meeting had already taken place; they were only submitted later,” notes lawyer Ilya Novikov.
Furthermore, two versions of the documents imposing sanctions against Poroshenko are still available on the websites of the President of Ukraine and the National Security and Defense Council, noted lawyer Ilya Novikov. The first version contains errors in personal data, while the second contains corrections, indicating that the decree has been falsified.
“We now see that the sanctions were imposed completely arbitrarily, without any basis or documentation. And now it turns out that all these documents they’re now trying to present as justification for the sanctions didn’t exist when the decree was issued, and they were secretly rushed to impose them after numerous clarifications, post-factum texts, and so on,” notes lawyer Igor Golovan.
In an attempt to justify these mistakes, the Presidential Office effectively undermined the National Bank, which, as early as the morning of February 13, sent instructions to financial institutions to freeze Poroshenko’s accounts, Novikov notes. “The presidential representative, along with the government, subtly ‘pushed’ Pyshny, the head of the National Bank, under the bus. Because for the presidential representative, a very important point now is that any presidential decree, at that time the decree on sanctions, only comes into force after it is published in the official Bulletin of the President of Ukraine. They inadvertently said that the official NBU instruction for banks was arbitrary, that they should have waited for the newspaper, and that the fact that the National Bank is introducing such regulations is somehow wrong,” Novikov explains.
“This situation unfolded so quickly, and they were so unconcerned about following any normal procedures, that they can’t even come up with a version of a lie that won’t stick out anywhere,” Ilya Novikov states.
“There is no justification for sanctions. And when the authorities allow such actions against me, imagine what it will be like for an ordinary citizen who is unprotected and who tomorrow will have the opportunity to deprive of rights, protection, and ultimately freedom through sanctions or extrajudicial actions. Therefore, this process is of absolutely fundamental importance,” he emphasized during his speech. The fifth president also stated that the authorities are attempting to discredit him as the leader of the largest opposition faction in front of their Western partners.
“At the direction of the President’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been instructed to convey the rationale for imposing sanctions on our partners in order to ensure synchronization of sanctions. Over the past eight months, this ‘fruitful’ work has yielded no results. But ambassadors in host countries have provided information that discredits me as an opposition leader, as a political figure, and they have no access to it here. Consequently, no one believes them, and we have received a response in the form of a European Parliament resolution, the presence of ambassadors from our partner countries here, and publications in foreign media that discredit Ukraine,” Poroshenko said indignantly.
“Everything’s going well for you at the Ministry of Economy? Everything’s going well for your economy, your GDP, your budget? We live in different Ukraines. One is fighting and doing everything to defend itself, while the other is destroying political opponents, weakening the state, and impeding its progress toward the European Union. I don’t want to have anything to do with it.”
Earlier, President Zelenskyy’s representative to the Supreme Court acknowledged that changes were made to the signed decree implementing the National Security and Defense Council’s decision on sanctions against Poroshenko, which she called “technical amendments.”
According to lawyer Ihor Golovan, the Vinnytsia District Administrative Court’s ruling on Petro Poroshenko’s lawsuit against the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) staff and the NSDC Secretary entered into force on July 31. “In particular, it was established that the Decree and its appendix, which was sent for the president’s signature and dated February 12, 2025, contained errors. Specifically, Petro Poroshenko’s identification code contained 11 digits instead of 10. Accordingly, the court established that the President had enacted the Decree.” The court also noted that current Ukrainian legislation does not provide for the possibility of correcting errors or amending regulatory legal acts, including decisions of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine and presidential decrees, outside the established procedure for adopting the relevant act.
President Zelenskyy’s spokesperson also confirmed earlier during the meeting that the National Bank of Ukraine illegally imposed financial restrictions on Petro Poroshenko.
The next hearing on the case will take place on October 13.
Also follow “Pryamy” on Facebook , Twitter , Telegram and Instagram.