Poroshenko's lawyers threaten a British journalist for publishing incriminating evidence about Onishchenko
A law firm representing the interests of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko warned the British media about the inadmissibility of publishing statements by MP Alexander Onishchenko, which talk about the president bribing Rada deputies.
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This statement was made by The Times journalist Maxim Tucker.
Tucker said on Twitter that Poroshenko’s lawyers sent him a letter threatening to sue if they publish statements by parliamentarian from the “Will of the People” group Alexander Onishchenko about bribing Rada deputies in the interests of the president.
“I just received a letter from Poroshenko’s lawyers threatening to file a lawsuit against the British media, which are disseminating Onishchenko’s statements that he bribed MPs. That Poroshenko bribed people’s deputies,” he wrote.
In his opinion, what is happening speaks of the true attitude of the Ukrainian president towards the free press.
“This speaks to two things: how Poroshenko feels about the free press and that he is horrified by the MP’s accusations,” Tucker noted.
Telling on two counts – shows Poroshenko's attitude to the free press and that he's terrified of these accusations from an MP and insider. https://t.co/BkphoYe1Lb
— Maxim Tucker (@MaxRTucker) December 8, 2016
He does not provide the text of the lawyers' letter because, according to him, it contains a confidentiality warning. But he insists that he is not the only British journalist to receive such a warning.
The journalist collaborates with The Times newspaper as a freelancer.
In an interview with the Kyiv publication Ukrayinska Pravda, he, citing his sources, claimed that Poroshenko personally was the initiator of sending the letter. Tucker added that he did not intend to stop working on the article and said that it would most likely be published in The Times.