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Oct-11-2011 04:00printcommentsVideo

Violence Accompanies Judge's Verdict Against ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in Ukraine

Fights break out and dozens are arrested outside Tymoshenko court hearing.

Former Ukraine Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko
Former Ukraine Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko

(KYIV, Ukraine) - A Ukraine judge in a high profile criminal case against former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, says she exceeded her authority in signing a gas deal with Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in 2009 that ended a three-week shutoff threatening supplies to Europe.

A verdict that took more than four hours to read, also stated that she used her powers to "criminal ends". She could receive a seven-year prison sentence.

Judge Rodion Kireyev said, "YV Tymoshenko... used her official powers to criminal ends and, acting consciously, committed actions which clearly exceeded her rights and powers which had heavy consequences." The judge has not yet announced a final judgment in the case, and no details have been offered as to what sentence this former leader of the Orange Revolution leader would serve if she were to be found guilty.

Kireyev says Tymoshenko is responsible for a loss to state gas firm Naftogaz of 1.5 billion hryvnia ($190 million) by agreeing a 10-year contract on gas imports from Russia in 2009 when she was prime minister, The Australian reports[1].

Even though her real fate hangs in the balance, supporters of Tymoshenko were angry over the proceedings and police report dozens of arrests stemming from scuffles and fights that broke out. It is also reported that thousands of riot-control police arrived to control Tymoshenko supporters who number only in the hundreds. Witnesses told reporters they pressed against police guards and broke through to Kreshchatyk Street, trying to break through police lines.

The Kyiv Post reported:

Police of the Berkut special operations unit have formed a long line along Khreschatyk Street and Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street outside of the Central Department Store in downtown Kyiv and are pushing supporters of Tymoshenko from the road. More than 10 buses filled with police were brought in for the event.

One eyewitness reported that five activists of Femen, the women's rights group that engages in topless protests on social issues, climbed the six-meter high sign on the Central Department Store to protest against politics, with signs that said: "Yu and YaTymoshenko's expected conviction. Berkut police went to the department store entrance, which is not far from the court hearing on the same street, and arrested the Femen activists and took them away.

The same eyewitness also reported that Tymosheno's supporters are reading poems as police blocked them in, leaving them only one way to exit, raising concerns about physical safety of the demonstrators[2].

It's no secret that Yulia Tymoshenko has maintained from the start that she was at trial because of a vendetta from President Viktor Yanukovych. She says he wants to eliminate her from politics after a very tight bout during the 2010 presidential elections.

Her supporters claim that the trial really amounts to a struggle for Ukraine's future, and they see it as a historic fight to ensure that there is a future for the country at the heart of Europe.

Tymoshenko told reporters after the reading of the verdict, "The court's judgment is being made by President Yanukovych. Whatever the decision of the court it will not change anything in my struggle for Ukraine's European future."

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[1] Yulia Tymoshenko 'criminally' exceeded powers, says judge in verdict - The Australian

[2] Fights break out, dozens arrested outside Tymoshenko court hearing - Kyiv Post




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Nastenka May 6, 2013 11:34 am (Pacific time)

Люди куда более опасный яд, чем водка и табак. (c) xoxonexoxo.ru

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