SBI Closes Criminal Proceedings Launched Against Poroshenko On Suspicion Of Inciting Sectarian Hatred

The State Bureau of Investigation has closed the criminal proceedings it launched against former president Petro Poroshenko on suspicion of inciting sectarian hatred.

The press service of the State Bureau of Investigation announced this in a statement, the Ukrainian News Agency reports.

Poroshenko recently announced that a criminal case had been opened against him on suspicion of inciting sectarian hatred by obtaining a Tomos (religious decree) granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

However, according to the acting director of the State Bureau of Investigation, Oleksandr Sokolov, the criminal proceedings cited in Poroshenko’s public statements involve not the Tomos but the cancellation of the registration of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate.

The criminal proceedings were launched based on a court decision when Roman Truba was the head of the State Bureau of Investigation, and they have now been closed.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Poroshenko recently announced that a criminal case had been opened against him on suspicion of inciting sectarian hatred by obtaining a Tomos granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.