Ukraine's ex-PM gets 7 years in jail
Source: Agencies |
October 12, 2011, Wednesday
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FORMER Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko yesterday was found guilty of abuse of office and sentenced to seven years in prison.
Judge Rodion Kireyev also barred Tymoshenko, now the country's top opposition leader, from occupying government posts for three years after her term ends and fined her US$190 million in damages.
Tymoshenko was convicted of exceeding her authority during the signing of a natural gas import contract with Russia in 2009. The court ruled that she was not authorized to order the contract signed and that the price she agreed to was too high, causing losses to the state budget.
Kireyev handed down the sentence - the maximum sought by state prosecutors - at the end of a three-month trial that has polarized society in the ex-Soviet republic and risks undermining Ukraine's relations with the West.
"The court has found Tymoshenko guilty and sentenced her to a prison term of seven years," Kireyev said.
Her lawyers said they would appeal the verdict.
The European Union, a major trading partner with Ukraine, immediately denounced the judgment as politically motivated and told President Viktor Yanukovich's leadership that it would boomerang seriously against relations.
Tymoshenko, 50, who described the trial as a "lynching" organized by Yanukovich, smiled faintly as the sentence was pronounced.
But the former Orange Revolution leader then rose to her feet and, even as Kireyev continued in a monotone to deliver the rest of his judgment, denounced Ukraine's "authoritarian regime" and decried the lack of justice under Yanukovich.
The judge said that she had exceeded her powers by stampeding the state energy concern Naftogaz into signing a 10-year gas-supply contract with Russia that resulted in Ukraine paying too much.
At least 2,000 Tymoshenko supporters massed outside the courtroom, and there were scuffles with police but no serious clashes.
Judge Rodion Kireyev also barred Tymoshenko, now the country's top opposition leader, from occupying government posts for three years after her term ends and fined her US$190 million in damages.
Tymoshenko was convicted of exceeding her authority during the signing of a natural gas import contract with Russia in 2009. The court ruled that she was not authorized to order the contract signed and that the price she agreed to was too high, causing losses to the state budget.
Kireyev handed down the sentence - the maximum sought by state prosecutors - at the end of a three-month trial that has polarized society in the ex-Soviet republic and risks undermining Ukraine's relations with the West.
"The court has found Tymoshenko guilty and sentenced her to a prison term of seven years," Kireyev said.
Her lawyers said they would appeal the verdict.
The European Union, a major trading partner with Ukraine, immediately denounced the judgment as politically motivated and told President Viktor Yanukovich's leadership that it would boomerang seriously against relations.
Tymoshenko, 50, who described the trial as a "lynching" organized by Yanukovich, smiled faintly as the sentence was pronounced.
But the former Orange Revolution leader then rose to her feet and, even as Kireyev continued in a monotone to deliver the rest of his judgment, denounced Ukraine's "authoritarian regime" and decried the lack of justice under Yanukovich.
The judge said that she had exceeded her powers by stampeding the state energy concern Naftogaz into signing a 10-year gas-supply contract with Russia that resulted in Ukraine paying too much.
At least 2,000 Tymoshenko supporters massed outside the courtroom, and there were scuffles with police but no serious clashes.
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