Kiev Court Seeks Criminal Proceedings Against Poroshenko Over Impeding Privat Bank Ruling

The judges of the Kiev District Administrative Court that has recently ruled to cancel the nationalization of Ukraine's PrivatBank said that the authorities, including Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, were interfering in the judicial process and requested to launch legal proceedings over the meddling, according to the court press service

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2019) The judges of the Kiev District Administrative Court that has recently ruled to cancel the nationalization of Ukraine's PrivatBank said that the authorities, including Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, were interfering in the judicial process and requested to launch legal proceedings over the meddling, according to the court press service.

On Thursday, the court declared the 2016 nationalization of the PrivatBank, founded by Ukrainian businessman Ihor Kolomoyskyi, illegal and ruled to invalidate the contract for the bank's shares sales. The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has expressed intention to appeal the ruling.

"The judges of the panel, which ruled on the case of Privatbank nationalization, have appealed to the Chairman of the High Council of Justice claiming that there have been interventions in their activities.

The judges have also appealed to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office the State Bureau of Criminal Investigation... The judges are asking to start a pre-trial investigation against the head of state, the minister of justice and the head of the NBU," the court said.

According to the judges, the government "posed a direct threat to the judicial system of Ukraine and encroached on its independence and impartiality" by commenting on the ruling.

The judges believe that the government's activities in relation to the ruling sought to seize control over the judiciary branch and thus constituted a criminal offense.