Former Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko has said that the regime of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych aims to rig the upcoming parliamentary elections to establish a dictatorship in Ukraine, reads a posting on Tymoshenko's official Web site.
At the same time, the ex-premier said sanctions should not be introduced to punish the Ukrainian state and its citizens. According to Tymoshenko, the international community should isolate the Yanukovych regime “in a political and moral sense.”
“Why should the country be punished twice? [Ukraine should not suffer from] domestic dictatorship and foreign sanctions. However, the democratic world should revise its relations with dictators. Big countries should not be satisfied only with economic achievements, they also should protect their own values – freedom, justice, democracy, and a peaceful life for people,” the ex-premier said.
In addition, Tymoshenko’s statement reads that new criminal charges against her prove that “the current regime” is unable to overcome her as a politician.
“The recent idea of Yanukovych to accuse me of the murder of Yevhen Scherban in 1996 is, in fact, recognition of the fact that he has failed to eliminate me as a politician,” she said.
Tymoshenko said that even in prison she had no regrets over choosing to fight against oligarchs.
