People who plundered the state voted for illegal sanctions – Poroshenko

Those who embezzled money from the energy sector and defenders voted at a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council to impose illegal sanctions against the fifth President, European Solidarity leader Petro Poroshenko. Because the opposition prevented them from stealing from the budget—this is what Petro Poroshenko said during a meeting of the Cassation Administrative Court of the Supreme Court, where his lawsuit to overturn Zelenskyy’s illegal decree is being heard.

“Today is the Day of Dignity and Freedom. And for me, this is not just an empty phrase, because during the Revolution of Dignity, it was a matter of principle for me to fight not only for European integration but also against corruption,” Poroshenko noted. He recalled that it was after Euromaidan that the anti-corruption body system was created and electronic asset declarations for officials were introduced.

“Unfortunately, the defendant takes the exact opposite position, and on July 22-23, he attempted to destroy the independence of the anti-corruption infrastructure. Why? As soon as the Mindich tapes were released, everything fell into place,” he noted.

“Among those who voted for sanctions against me at the February 12 National Security and Defense Council meeting, five people are involved in a corruption scandal. They are recorded running to the apartment of Derkach, a traitor to Ukraine, and discussing how to steal money. Five members of the National Security and Defense Council voted for sanctions against Poroshenko, against Derkach, and embezzled Energoatom’s money. This is just the beginning, because less than 10% of the recordings have been made public, and they include at least three, and possibly four, other ministers who were directly involved in these processes,” he emphasized.

The court hearing also showed video statements from Zelensky regarding sanctions against Poroshenko, allegedly imposed for the withdrawal of billions of hryvnias from Ukraine.

“On February 11-12, Pronin (the head of the State Financial Monitoring Service) was recorded by Mindich discussing how they would siphon hundreds of millions of hryvnias from Energoatom-2 into their own pockets. I understand that’s what Zelenskyy had in mind, because we haven’t heard any comments about Poroshenko or Poroshenko’s fund being siphoned off,” the leader of European Solidarity commented.

“I think the president’s statement about there being a limit and people’s patience having run out has undermined the people’s trust in the government. They undermined it with the withdrawal of billions that Zelenskyy is talking about. They undermined our partners’ trust in us, and we risk being left without money and without weapons,” Poroshenko noted.

“They tried to get rid of me simply because I was trying to fight corruption, and our faction refused to vote for the Bulgarian corruption agreement. Now Zelenskyy must choose: either distance himself from corrupt officials, or protect them and become complicit,” the fifth President noted.

At a Supreme Court hearing, evidence of falsified sanctions against Poroshenko was examined. Poroshenko’s lawyers showed a film produced by the 1+1 TV channel, in which Zelenskyy directly admits that the National Security and Defense Council is his weapon and that he uses it. He claims it’s because it’s more effective than following the law.

The president’s representative in court called for the president’s interviews and public statements to be disregarded, as they, she said, do not determine the court’s position on the decision to impose sanctions against Poroshenko.

As is known, today the panel of judges of the Cassation Administrative Court, part of the Supreme Court, continues to consider Petro Poroshenko’s claim to overturn the illegal decree imposing sanctions. Representatives of diplomatic missions, journalists, and members of parliament are present at the court hearing.

The previous court hearing was held behind closed doors. The panel of judges reviewed documents marked “for official use only,” which served as the basis for the National Security and Defense Council’s decision.

According to lawyer Ilya Novikov, the documents contain no adequate explanation as to why the authorities felt the need to urgently impose sanctions against the fifth president within a matter of hours. Furthermore, he noted, some of the documents provided by the defendants were falsified. In the closed portion of the court hearing, government representatives also stated that the sanctions against Poroshenko were imposed for educational purposes.

It was previously revealed during the case’s consideration that some of the documents on the basis of which the sanctions were imposed were submitted to the National Security and Defense Council retroactively after the decision had been made and the Decree had been signed.

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.”

President Zelenskyy’s spokesperson also confirmed earlier during the meeting that the National Bank of Ukraine illegally imposed financial restrictions on Petro Poroshenko.

As a reminder, a panel of judges from the Cassation Administrative Court, part of the Supreme Court, is continuing to consider Petro Poroshenko’s claim to overturn the illegal decree imposing sanctions . Representatives of diplomatic missions, journalists, and members of parliament are present at the court hearing.