Poroshenko, Lithuanian ambassador discuss political persecution in Ukraine

This issue was discussed at a meeting between former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Lithuanian Ambassador to Ukraine Marius Janukonis.

"I informed [Janukonis] about the persecution by law enforcement agencies of European Solidarity MP Sofiya Fedyna for expressing her own opinion. He emphasized that this situation is absolutely unacceptable," Poroshenko wrote on his Facebook page following the meeting.

During the meeting, Poroshenko and Janukonis discussed the strategies of European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine and the holding of the regular Ukraine Reform Conference this July at Lithuania's initiative.

"I was impressed by the ambassador's excellent knowledge of the Ukrainian language. I thank Marius Janukonis for a constructive conversation, as well as for his strong support for Ukraine, which has always been demonstrated by both Lithuania and Ambassador Janukonis personally," Poroshenko said.

Fedyna, a member of the European Solidarity party, was served with a suspicion notice at the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) on February 12.

In late November 2019, investigators of the SBI's central office sent to the Office of the Prosecutor General for approval a draft notice of suspicion in "threatening to kill the President of Ukraine" to MP Fedyna and volunteer Marusya Zvirobiy. They are defendants in criminal proceedings launched on the basis of their remarks made against President Volodymyr Zelensky on October 26, 2019.

On February 6, an SBI investigator handed over a suspicion notice to volunteer Marusya Zvirobiy (Olena Bilenka) and submitted a petition to court to choose the measure of restraint for her in the form of personal recognizance. Zvirobiy is charged with violation of Part 1 of Article 346 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (threat or violence against a state or public figure).

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