Ukrainian court rejects request to arrest ex-president Poroshenko in treason case

Ukrainian former President Petro Poroshenko, who is suspected of high treason by financing pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine while in office in 2014-2015, addresses his supporters outside a court building before a hearing in Kyiv, Ukraine January 19, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

KYIV (Reuters) - A Ukrainian judge rejected a prosecutor's request to arrest ex-president Petro Poroshenko in a treason case, in a televised hearing on Wednesday.

Judge Oleksiy Sokolov said Poroshenko should instead appear before prosecutors and investigators when requested to do so.

Poroshenko is being investigated for treason in a case that he says was cooked up by allies of his successor, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Jon Boyle)