Ukraine’s SBI to Probe into Biden's Pressure on Ex-PG Shokin

27 February 2020 16:30

The State Bureau of Investigation has opened criminal proceedings against former U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden for pressuring former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin.

This was announced by Shokin's lawyer Oleksandr Teleshetskyi, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

According to the lawyer, the court ordered the SBI to register these proceedings. The case was initiated over Shokin’s claim.

Shokin, who headed the Office from February 10, 2015 to April 3, 2016, claims to have agreed to leave the Prosecutor General's Office because of the pressure from Biden. According to him, Biden demanded that he be dismissed in exchange for unimpeded granting of a $1 billion loan guarantee to Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Parliament dismissed Prosecutor General of Ukraine Shokin on March 29, 2016. 289 MPs voted in favor of the decision. Shokin's attorneys claimed there was “button-punching” and bribing during the vote to discharge the PG. However, the court dismissed Shokin's lawsuit.

In April 2017, the fifth President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, was summoned by the Supreme Administrative Court to be questioned in the case of Shokin’s dismissal. The latter demanded that he be reinstated in his position.