Poroshenko returns to Ukraine to face treason charges

Kyiv, Jan 17: Ukraine's former President Petro Poroshenko returned to the country on Monday to stand trial for treason in his country.

Poroshenko's plane arrived at Kyiv airport where he was greeted by crowds of his supporters who had come to meet him with posters.

He had a brief standoff with border patrol officers but later left the airport. Ukrainian investigators said the border officers tried to serve a subpoena to the former president, but he refused to take the documents.

Poroshenko is expected to head straight to court, where a judge will decide whether he should be taken into custody pending the investigation.

As the former leader emerged outside the airport, he was greeted by a crowd of his supporters. Some of them were waving the Ukrainian flag, while other carried posters and banners that read, "We need democracy," and "Stop repressions."

What are the charges against him?

Poroshenko, one of Ukraine's richest businessmen, will face treason charges.

He served as president between 2014 and 2019. Prosecutors allege that during that time, he was involved in the sale of large amounts of coal that helped finance Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014-15.

If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

Poroshenko insists that he is innocent and that the charges against him are trumped up by allies of his successor President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in an attempt to discredit him.

Source: DW