Poroshenko is neither suspect nor defendant in criminal cases – lawyer

"It’s, probably, too soon to say that I am defending him because Poroshenko, with all the rhetoric we hear, is still neither a suspect nor a defendant," Poroshenko’s lawyer Ilya Novikov said on the air of Radio HB.

According to Novikov, 13 lawsuits have been filed against Poroshenko by Andriy Portnov, the former deputy head of the administration of fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych.

At the same time, according to the lawyer, the State Bureau of Investigation may soon serve a notice of suspicion to ex-president.

"We are a team of legal advisers, not a team - so far - of defenders... My colleagues and I have to take very seriously the information that President Zelensky had a meeting where the expediency of how to imprison those whose imprisonment would be commended by people as soon as possible was discussed,” Novikov noted.

As reported, Director of the State Bureau of Investigation Roman Truba said that his agency was investigating 13 criminal cases involving Poroshenko. Ex-deputy head of the presidential administration of Yanukovych, Andriy Portnov, is the applicant of most cases.

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