Poroshenko Fails To Show For Questioning At Ukraine's State Bureau Of Investigations

KYIV -- Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has failed to show at the State Bureau of Investigations (DBR) for questioning.

The DBR planned to question Poroshenko on June 30 in a case about his alleged illegal appointment of Serhiy Semochko to the post of the deputy chief of the Foreign Intelligence Service.

Poroshenko's lawyer, Ihor Holovan, told journalists that his client did not show up at the DBR because the summons for questioning had been made via the DBR's website, which is illegal since Poroshenko should have been served the subpoena personally.

Holovan noted that on July 1, the Pechera district court in Kyiv will resume hearings into Poroshenko's possible pretrial restrictions in the case.

Poroshenko has been questioned several times in recent months in cases looking into a number of investigations launched after he failed to win a second term as president last year.

The authorities have said that the DBR is looking in some 20 possible cases in which Poroshenko or his associates were implicated.

A billionaire confectioner, Poroshenko currently serves as a member of parliament.

His party ran on a pro-European, anti-Russian ticket in July parliamentary elections, winning 25 seats.

On June 18, when Pechera district court started the hearing into Poroshenko's possible pretrial restriction measures, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv expressed concerns about Ukraine's justice system.