Crimea leaders say will convene military tribunal for Poroshenko for pledge to regain control over Crimea
SIMFEROPOL. Feb 23 (Interfax) - The Crimean leader, Sergei Aksyonov, said after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pledged to bring Crimea back under Ukraine's control after its reintegration with Russia in March 2014, that a military tribunal will be convened to try Poroshenko.
"We pledged to convene a military tribunal in Crimea for Poroshenko and, believe us, we will deliver on our pledge. We will bring him here and try him," Aksyonov told reporters in Simferopol on Monday.
Aksyonov also said that no change was possible in Crimea's territorial status. "Crimea will never return to Ukraine. Crimea has returned to its home country, the Russian Federation, forever," he said.
Aksyonov said that Poroshenko visited Crimea in February 2014 in an attempt to persuade the demonstrators in a tented camp in front of the Crimean parliament against Crimea's reintegration with Russia. "He had to cut his visit short then. He just ran to get into a taxi and fled, followed by our colleagues, who wanted to explain to him why Crimea had become a venue of such events," Aksyonov said.
Poroshenko earlier released a statement on the occasion of the anniversary since Crimea rejoined Russia, saying that Ukraine will regain control over Crimea and threatening to prosecute the organizers and participants in the change of Crimea's territorial status.
The statement was posted on the Ukrainian president's website on Monday.