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DPR set to try Poroshenko, Zelensky in criminal tribunal

DPR laws stipulate criminal responsibility for war crimes, as well as for supporting and financing terrorism, a prominent DPR lawmaker, Yelena Shishkina, told

DONETSK, June 1. /TASS/. The authorities of the Donetsk People’s Republic are set to try top Ukrainian officials, who led the country after the 2014 state coup, in the international tribunal for members of Ukrainian armed groups, suspected of war crimes, a prominent DPR lawmaker, Yelena Shishkina, told TASS on Wednesday.

"Perpetrators of military crimes are not just those who hold weapons in their hands and pull the trigger. Those are also generals, who issue orders, and presidents, too. There were three of them: former acting president [Alexander] Turchinov, [former president Pyotr] Poroshenko and [incumbent president Vladimir] Zelensky. They were the ones to put their signatures under orders to send neo-Nazis to Donbass to kill civilians here," said Shishkina, who chairs the DPR parliament’s committee on criminal and administrative legislation.

In her words, DPR laws stipulate criminal responsibility for war crimes, as well as for supporting and financing terrorism.

"Ukraine has put in place conditions that allowed neo-Nazi organizations to function on its territory, including amnesty for their members, failures to bring them to criminal responsibility, and legislative endorsement of crimes committed against Russians," the lawmaker continued.

Shishkina also expressed hope that foreign organizations and their leaders, who supported neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine, would also be brought to justice.

"When sufficient evidence is presented by law-enforcement agencies <…> then, of course, those guilty will be punished," she said, adding that those cases will be heard with due process of the law.

Earlier, DPR leader Denis Pushilin said Ukrainian nationalists should face a tribunal, possibly an international one. It was also reported that all necessary documents, including the charter, are currently being prepared.