Director of the of the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) Roman Truba has said that the former deputy head of the presidential administration of Ukraine during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, Andriy Portnov, for the SBI is a claimant and witness in some criminal cases.
“Andriy Portnov for the State Bureau of Investigations is the claimant who filed the relevant claims, and after that he has the status in criminal proceedings – this is the status of a witness. For me, as the head of the law enforcement agency, all participants are equal. Anyone who has the desire may claim one or another violation, and accordingly, the SBI will respond to these offenses,” he said during the Freedom of Speech program on Nov. 22 night on Ukraina TV channel.
Asked about his meeting with Portnov and his connection with 13 open criminal cases involving the fifth president of Ukraine, MP Petro Poroshenko, Truba said that among these proceedings there are cases opened both at the request of Portnov and other persons, MPs and heads of other, including public, organizations and law enforcement agencies.
“The initiative to meet is subject to desirel. I meet with MPs, people who want it. And I don’t see anything extremely bad about it. Andriy Portnov has been at the State Bureau of Investigations more than once, but as far as I know, he was interrogated by investigators in criminal proceedings, and there was a large number of visits of the SBI by him,” Truba said.
