Poroshenko ready to answer questions about Maidan cases when no official events on his schedule
Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has said Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is ready to give testimony in cases involving the Revolution of Dignity in 2013-2014 at any time when he does not have planned official events and investigators should arrange a schedule for questioning.
"I know the position of the president: he is ready again to appear for questioning as a witness to events which happened on Maidan, in which he participated and which he knows about. If that helps [Chief of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) special investigation department Serhiy] Horbatiuk complete the five-year old case, which society has been waiting for, then the president is ready to again answer questions which investigators have," Lutsenko told journalists on Tuesday.
"I think, considering his status as head of state, investigators should arrange a questioning schedule. I know the president is ready to be questioned on any day, including today, but when he does not have any official events to attend. This is obvious," Lutsenko said.
The prosecutor general said investigators last year questioned Poroshenko at the presidential administration.
"Why they did not get him to sign [the protocol of the interrogation] is a mystery to me. Why Horbatiuk remembered this a year later is not a mystery to me, because he has reacted defensively to criticism by the head of state and, using an administrative approach, is trying to 'thank' [Poroshenko] … Therefore, it seems to me Horbatiuk in this case is feeding his ego and is not seeking justice. To remember the president forgot to sign a protocol after a year, you will agree, does not look very good," Lutsenko said.
As reported, Poroshenko was summoned for questioning at 10:00 a.m. on May 7 but did not appear. Horbatiuk said it was supposed to be the second interrogation of Poroshenko as a witness in criminal proceedings concerning crimes committed during the Revolution of Dignity.
"Unfortunately, as you see, the witness did not appear. No one contacted the investigators or informed them that he would not appear or asked to reschedule the interrogation," Horbatiuk told journalists in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Horbatiuk said in November 2016 Poroshenko had given additional evidence that he had not given during the first interrogation.
"For two years he did not sign the protocol of the first interrogation ... He was in a hurry and did not sign. He promised that he would sign the following day. We reminded him more than once, but he never appeared. We will continue summoning him," he said.
Poroshenko on the morning of May 7 took part in a ceremony at which judges were sworn in to Ukraine's Supreme Court.