Former Ukrainian PM Tymoshenko sentenced to seven years for abuse of power

Former Ukrainian PM Tymoshenko sentenced to seven years for abuse of power

2011-10-11 20:46:31 GMT+7 (ICT)

KIEV (BNO NEWS) -- Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was found guilty of abuse of office on Tuesday and sentenced to seven years in prison. The trial has been widely criticized internationally.

The Pechersky District Court in Kiev found the country's top opposition leader guilty of abuse of power in connection with a 2009 gas deal with Russia. She is accused of illegally forcing state energy company Naftogaz sign a gas supply contract with Russian gas company Gazprom in 2009, which the state says required approval of the Cabinet of Ministers.

Tymoshenko was also banned from holding public office for three years after the completion of her prison term and ordered to repay 1.5 billion hryvnia ($190 million) in losses to Ukraine's state oil and gas company. Her prison term starts on August 5, when the former premier was taken into custody in the courtroom.

"Bearing in mind the fact that the court has not established any circumstances aggravating or mitigating Tymoshenko's punishment, and given the heightened social danger of the crime committed by Tymoshenko, her personality and the absence of any penitence on her part, the court sees no grounds to hand down a more lenient sentence," Judge Rodion Kireyev, the court's chairman, said while pronouncing the verdict on Tuesday, as cited by the Interfax news agency.

After the verdict was announced, Tymoshenko said that she intends to "defend her good name" in the European Court of Human Rights since Ukrainian courts 'cannot be trusted'. "This verdict and these repressions against citizens bring Ukraine back to 1937," she said.

"No sentence can stop me. We will fight and defend my good name in the European Court, and I am convinced that the European Court of Human Rights will make a legitimate, lawful and fair decision," she added, as reported by Interfax.

The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, said he regretted the court's decision and expects it to be reconsidered in an appeal. "I have serious doubts about fairness, independence and transparency of this trial," he said in a statement.

Buzek added: "The law applied against Tymoshenko dates back to the Soviet times and envisages criminal prosecution for political decisions. This is a rare practice in democratic countries. Ukraine is a great nation that deserves better."

Tymoshenko has claimed her trial is politically motivated and an attempt by President Viktor Yanukovych, who narrowly beat her in the presidential election in February 2010, to bar her from future elections.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, riot police broke up a protest rally held by Tymoshenko's supporters around Kiev's central Perchersk city district court. According to her website, police were "using physical force against the people" in an attempt to prevent them from accessing the court building. Several people were arrested.

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