OREANDA-NEWS. Former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said that they tried to remove his lawyers from the trial and appoint him a free defender. This is reported by the Telegram channel Vesti.ua.

“They decided to appoint me a free lawyer, relieving Mr. [Ilya] Novikov and Mr. [Igor] Golovan from the duties of my lawyers. And a free lawyer came out and said that this was a provocation by the authorities and he, of course, would not take part in this provocation. They went crazy,” Poroshenko said, speaking to his supporters near the Pechersk Court in Kiev.

He added that his defense should familiarize himself with the nine materials of the case in an hour and a half, while the court went on a break.

On January 17, Poroshenko returned to Ukraine. He went through passport control without receiving a summons to the court, which should choose a measure of restraint for him. The former president is accused of high treason. According to investigators, he used his powers as head of state to break contracts for the purchase of coal from South Africa and, at the request of Russia, conclude contracts for supplies from the territories of Donbas not controlled by Kiev.