Tweet
UKRAINE EX-PM YULIA TYMOSHENKO JAILED OVER GAS DEAL
ARMENPRESS
15:40, 11 October, 2011
Former Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko has been jailed for seven years.
A judge ruled she had criminally exceeded her powers when she signed
a gas deal with Russia in 2009.
Mrs Tymoshenko said the charges against her were politically
motivated. She vowed to appeal against her sentence and fight for
Ukraine "till her last breath".
The US and the EU have condemned the charges as selective prosecution
of political opponents.
European officials suggested that jailing Mrs Tymoshenko would be a
serious blow to the country's hopes of integration with the European
Union.
Riot police stood outside the court as supporters and opponents
gathered. There have been minor clashes and some arrests.
Judge Rodion Kireyev said the former prime minister would also have
to pay back 1.5bn hrivnas ($186m) lost by the state gas company as
a result of the deal.
As the verdict was read out, Mrs Tymoshenko spoke over the judge,
saying she would "fight to defend my honest name", adding that Ukraine
had returned to the repression of Stalin's 1937 Soviet Union.
However, former president and one-time ally Viktor Yushchenko and
others have testified against her.
Russia pipes gas to western Europe across Ukrainian territory and
relations between the two ex-Soviet states have long been dogged by
disputes over transit fees and unpaid bills.
ARMENPRESS
15:40, 11 October, 2011
Former Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko has been jailed for seven years.
A judge ruled she had criminally exceeded her powers when she signed
a gas deal with Russia in 2009.
Mrs Tymoshenko said the charges against her were politically
motivated. She vowed to appeal against her sentence and fight for
Ukraine "till her last breath".
The US and the EU have condemned the charges as selective prosecution
of political opponents.
European officials suggested that jailing Mrs Tymoshenko would be a
serious blow to the country's hopes of integration with the European
Union.
Riot police stood outside the court as supporters and opponents
gathered. There have been minor clashes and some arrests.
Judge Rodion Kireyev said the former prime minister would also have
to pay back 1.5bn hrivnas ($186m) lost by the state gas company as
a result of the deal.
As the verdict was read out, Mrs Tymoshenko spoke over the judge,
saying she would "fight to defend my honest name", adding that Ukraine
had returned to the repression of Stalin's 1937 Soviet Union.
However, former president and one-time ally Viktor Yushchenko and
others have testified against her.
Russia pipes gas to western Europe across Ukrainian territory and
relations between the two ex-Soviet states have long been dogged by
disputes over transit fees and unpaid bills.