“Evil must be punished. That is why, for the first time in Ukrainian history, I decided to take part in the trial. It is unprecedented when the President personally does it, but this is the case of each of us,” Petro Poroshenko said at the opening of the exhibition devoted to the members of the Revolution of Dignity – creative people “Lead Me Through the Maidan”.
President Petro Poroshenko decided to take part in a court hearing on criminal prosecution regarding charges of treason of former president Yanukovych.
“Evil must be punished. That is why, for the first time in Ukrainian history, I decided to take part in the trial. It is unprecedented when the President personally does it, but this is the case of each of us,” Petro Poroshenko said at the opening of the exhibition devoted to the members of the Revolution of Dignity – creative people “Lead Me Through the Maidan”.
PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE PETRO POROSHENKO
The Head of State expressed gratitude to photographer Oleksandr Tymoshenko, one of the authors of the exhibition, which will present an exposition of his works on Maidan: “Thank you, Mr. Oleksandr, for the fact that you have transferred more than two thousand photos and videos to the Prosecutor General’s Office to help the investigation”.
The President also appealed to Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko with a request to inform about almost three and a half thousand episodes, more than a hundred criminal proceedings and dozens of litigation cases.
“The Constitution forbids me, as President, to interfere with the investigation, which has been coordinated for 4 years by the Department of Special Investigations. It is fully responsible for the effectiveness of this work. I can only ask Yuriy Vitaliyovych to analyze what else we can do to help the Department, so that its leadership has no reason to assert that it is allegedly not being facilitated enough,” the President stressed.
Petro Poroshenko also emphasized: “Of course, I share the discontent of the society with the pace of investigation, and even more – the speed of trials. In four years they should have done more. At the same time, I am well aware of the scale of the crime, as well as the need for a legally sound evidence base and strict adherence to all procedural rules”.
Petro Poroshenko stressed that it was necessary to go through a procedurally complex path, so that the murderers would not have any chances in European courts.
“I emphasize that the crimes against Maidan do not have a statute of limitations, and the perpetrators have crossed the line on which the curse comes, and that curse in the words of Myroslav Popovich is “stronger than courts and prisons”. And you cannot hide from that anywhere, even in Russia,” the Head of State noted.
