You're reading: Poroshenko to participate in state treason trial against Yanukovych

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has announced his plans to participate in the state treason trial against disgraced ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and stressed the importance of investigating crimes against participants in the Revolution of Dignity in 2014.

“Evil deeds must be punished and therefore, for the first time in Ukraine’s history, I have taken the decision to participate in the trial. It is unprecedented for a president to do this. But this is a case that concerns us all,” Poroshenko said in Kyiv on Sunday during a ceremony marking the unveiling of an exhibition, “Walk me across the Maidan,” honoring artists who participated in the Revolution of Dignity.

The president said there is no statute of limitations for crimes committed against protest participants and that the perpetrators must be punished.

Poroshenko said he shares the dissatisfaction of many in society with the pace of the investigation and speed of court proceedings.

“At the same time, I know well the extent of the crime as well as the necessity of an impeccable evidentiary basis and unwavering adherence to all procedural norms… The cases must go through a complicated procedural process in order that the murderers have no chance in European courts,” Poroshenko said.

He also asked chief of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) Yuriy Lutsenko to analyze and report on how best to assist the PGO’s special investigations department, which is handling the investigation.

The president’s press service said Poroshenko would take part in the state treason case being held in Kyiv’s Obolonsky District Court against Yanukovych.

“Next week we plan to question Ukraine’s envoy to the United Nations [Volodymyr] Yelchenko, as well as President Petro Poroshenko,” Prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko said on February 14, the same day when National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov was questioned in the proceedings. Turchynov’s testimony lasted four and one half hours.