KIEV, December 23. /TASS/: Ukraine’s Supreme Court has summoned President Vladimir Zelensky in a lawsuit lodged against him by former President Pyotr Poroshenko.
The lawsuit urges the authorities to disclose wiretap recordings of phone conversations allegedly held by Viktor Medvedchuk, leader of the Ukrainian political party Opposition Platform - For Life, with Russian officials and representatives of the Donbass areas, which are not under Kiev’s control.
"The Supreme Court summons you to attend a hearing of the administrative case of Pyotr Alexeevich Poroshenko against Vladimir Alexandrovich Zelensky," says the subpoena released by Igor Golovan, the ex-president’s lawyer, on the website of Poroshenko’s party European Solidarity.
According to the published copy of the summons, Zelensky has been subpoenaed to appear in court at 15.00 Kiev time (16.00 Moscow Time) on February 28.
In May, journalists of the Ukrainian website Bihus.info reported that they had obtained access to hours-long phone records, which, in their version, proved Medvedchuk’s ties with Russian officials and representatives of the non-government-controlled areas in Donbass, as well as showing that Medvedchuk had been negotiating with Poroshenko’s consent. The sources of those recordings were not disclosed.
In June, Poroshenko’s lawyers filed a lawsuit on his behalf against Zelensky and the public organization Tom 14 headed by journalist Denis Bihus, demanding that it be declared illegal to conceal the wiretaps from the public and to compel the release of all recordings in their original form. Simultaneously, Poroshenko’s lawyers voiced confidence that Bihus.info acted in cooperation with Zelensky’s office, and that those actions did not target Medvedchuk, but Poroshenko.
Later, a court in Kiev instituted criminal proceedings against the public organization, and the suit against Zelensky was first left without motion and then sent back to the defense. This was appealed and on October 27, the Supreme Court returned the claim and sent the case back to the court of first instance for further consideration.
A court in Kiev on May 13 put Medvedchuk under house arrest till July 9. He was charged with high treason and violation of the laws and customs of war. Medvedchuk said the recordings were fakes, and Poroshenko was a witness in the case.
However, in December he was charged with high treason and assisting terrorist organizations, as the investigation suspects him of involvement in coal deliveries from the non-government-controlled areas in Donbass in late 2014 and early 2015. Former Energy Minister Vladimir Demchishin and businessman Sergey Kuzyara are also on trial. Currently, Poroshenko is abroad, but has promised to come back to Ukraine in early January.
