Ze Faces Retaliation for Shit-Talking
Petro Poroshenko's lawyers aren't messing around
Appealing to far-fetched scenarios with little to no detail or context and stating your conclusion can be, at best, unpersuasive and, at worst, counterproductive.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova early on May 20, 2020 opened a criminal case over so-called "Biden recordings" after a talk with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after the latter himself confirmed his personal interest in this case.
That what Ilya Novikov, the lawyer for former Petro Poroshenko, said during a press conference on May 20 in Kyiv.
"A criminal case into the so-called 'Biden's recordings' was opened early this morning …which itself in cases relating to the events happened four years ago testifies some particular interest of the leadership of the Office of Prosecutor General towards this issue," Novikov said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Novikov, there is information, which will be verified and specified, that the case was initiated following a conversation between Venediktova and Zelensky.
The lawyer said the Zelensky demonstrated his personal interest in the given issue by statements he made at on May 20 at a the press conference marking his first year as president.
"Zelensky said he is sure that Poroshenko's (guilty) verdict is a matter of time and that it is possible to qualify actions under the article of state treason… He thus publicly outlined his position... as a person who directly coordinates and is directly interested in these proceedings," the lawyer said.
Speaking about the content of the audio recordings, Novikov said, “There is no corpus delicti here."
"Negotiations of the same content have been taking place over the past few years and during the period when Zelensky heads Ukraine ... This is a common practice," he said.
Novikov said Poroshenko's defense team will try to establish the source of the leaked recordings.
"It (a source of records) could be from the American side. But Zelensky's statements and the behavior of the President's Office, the behavior of the Prosecutor General, speak in favor of the version that the recording could have come from the Ukrainian side, which is a huge problem and can undermine the possibility of conducting confidential conversations... with any foreign partners," the lawyer said.
In turn, the lawyer Ihor Golovan noted that an important point was if the case if a subject of the Criminal Code. In particular, according to him, we are not talking about the disclosure of state secrets, confidentiality of correspondence or unlawful interception.
"Those who registered criminal proceedings may be leery of divulging that the President's Office was the source of this whole story," Golovan said.
The lawyer said said Zelensky "actually voiced the order" to open the case during his press conference.
"Along with our appeal about a deliberately false report about the crime, we will also insist on the fact of yesterday's press conference (MP Andriy Derkach, at which he voiced audio material about Biden's alleged pressure on Poroshenko, on the basis of which the PGO opened criminal proceedings), as well as on the fact of today's actions, when at the president's press conference his statements can be interpreted ... as an attempt to create the impression that the published fabrications were reliable (cases were opened)... These actions, taken together, look like high treason," Golovan said.
As reported, on May 19, Derkach said he received the recordings from investigative journalists, and Poroshenko personally made recordings of his conversations with top U.S. officials, including former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and former U.S. Presdident Joe Biden, in 2015 and 2016.
On May 20, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office entered in the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations information about an article on high treason and abuse of power or official position at the request MP Derkach (independent). Derkach on Tuesday published audio materials that may indicate the influence of former U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden on Poroshenko.
(cf. continued from Destroying Ukraine as Intended)