LUGANSK, March 21 (Lugansk Media Centre) – The Ukrainian People’s Tribunal for Poroshenko’s regime war crimes against Ukrainian citizens (UPT) will not resort to false indictments and reprisals, said the defense lawyer Elena Gridina.
The Initiative Group of Ukrainian citizens living in Donetsk and Lugansk established on March 15 the People’s Tribunal to investigate the Poroshenko's regime war crimes in Donbass. The Tribunal began its work on March 20; its first hearings are scheduled for March 26-27 in Donetsk. The Tribunal shall review cases in accordance with the Ukrainian law with due respect to international standards.
Lawyers Elena Shishkina, Lyubov Batyashova and Tatyana Kravchenko were appointed presiding judges, Sergey Kozhemyakin was appointed the prosecutor and Elena Gridina was appointed the defense lawyer.
The UPT is to try the crimes of high-ranking officials, including Ukrainian President Petr Poroshenko, national security council secretary Alexander Turchinov, defence minister Stepan Poltorak, the minister of internal affairs Arsen Avakov and Ukrainian armed force commander-in-chief Viktor Muzhenko.
“The indictment files are overwhelming; the defense here is not an easy task. Nevertheless, we shall act in accordance with the Ukrainian law and we shall not allow groundless accusations and reprisals for undesirables.”
In terms of objectivity, the trial will be dramatically different from Kiev’s activity. “It will be different. There will be no charges without a 100 percent proof; my task is to make sure of it.”
