Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) has today condemned the sentencing of former Ukrainian Prime Minister, Yulia
Tymoshenko, as an attack upon democracy and the Rule of Law.
Mrs Tymoshenko, a leader of the ‘Orange Revolution’, has
been jailed for seven years following a trial widely believed to have been
politically-motivated. The country’s
first female Prime Minister has been
convicted for having exceeded her powers by signing a gas deal with Russia in
2009. The verdict has been condemned by
the European Union and Mrs Tymoshenko, who has been banned from political
office for three years, now intends to take her case to the European Court of
Human Rights.
The lead solicitor at PIL, Phil Shiner, said:
“As Ukraine seeks full
membership of the EU, this is a return to the dark days of Russian rule. It appears that no one is safe from state
repression in the country. In a repudiation of the Rule
of Law, Mrs Tymoshenko has been convicted on an arbitrary basis following a trial
that falls well short of the standards of fairness required of it by the European Convention
on Human Rights. It is likely that
Ukraine will have to answer for that in Strasbourg.”
Current President Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown following
the revolution in 2004. Many see Mrs
Tymoshenko’s trial as an attempt to silence the regime’s main political rival.
Before being sentenced, Mrs Tymoshenko told the press:
"You know very
well that the sentence is not being pronounced by Judge Kireyev but by
President Yanukovych. Whatever the sentence pronounced, my struggle will
continue." 11 October 2011
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