The former Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko on Thursday decried political pressure against him as he appeared in court in a flurry of developments that sparked fresh concern from the West. Ukrainian authorities are investigating a dozen criminal probes in which they suspect the 54-year-old former leader might be involved. In a new development last week, the state investigation bureau said it suspected Poroshenko of "issuing a clearly criminal order" as "he persuaded an official ... to exceed his authority." The investigators did not provide further details but Poroshenko said the case was related to the appointment of a deputy head of the foreign intelligence service in 2018. The current case is the first where Poroshenko was formally named a suspect. He has denied any wrongdoing. On Thursday, hundreds of Poroshenko's supporters gathered outside Kiev's Pechersky district court, with many chanting his name. Poroshenko -- who is now a lawmaker -- addressed his supporters including members of his party, dismissing the pressure as "revenge of worthless...people." The prosecutors had been widely expected to demand Poroshenko's arrest but instead called for non-custodial pre-trial restrictions that would ban the former leader from leaving the country during the investigation. In April 2019, Poroshenko was trounced in a presidential election by Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian with no previous political experience. Zelensky has pledged to root out corruption and investigate officials from the previous administration. During his term as president, Poroshenko pivoted the ex-Soviet country closer to the West but critics accuse him of failing to tackle corruption and widespread poverty. He is now a senior lawmaker in a parliament dominated by Zelensky's ruling party. Western officials have expressed concern about the case. "All citizens in a democracy deserve to be treated equally and fairly under the law," the US embassy in Ukraine said in a statement on Facebook. "The justice system should not be used for the purpose of settling political scores." bur-dg/as/cdw