You're reading: Amid international criticism, Tymoshenko trial nears denouement

After a two-week break, the abuse of office trial of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko resumed on Sept. 27.

In a stuffy, 50-square-meter courtroom described by some as “inhumane conditions”, and filled with 100 observers including diplomats, members of parliament, and journalists, 31-year-old Kyiv City Pechersk District Court Judge Rodion Kireyev refused a motion to renew a pre-trial investigation into the case to examine previously omitted evidence.

Instead he ordered the prosecutorial team to begin with final arguments in the case.

Kireyev didn’t consider other motions filed, namely a plea by a group of parliamentarians from Tymoshenko’s eponymous party to stand bail for her.

After the denial, prosecutor Liliya Frolova initiated final arguments. She asked the Kyiv City Pechersk District Court to sentence Tymoshenko to seven years in prison. She also asked the court to deprive Tymoshenko of holding any managerial positions, to pay Hr 1.5 billion in damages that Ukraine lost in the 2009 gas deal with Russia and to cover Hr 10,000 in court expenses.

In pressing ahead with the trial, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych — widely seen to be in control of the proceedings against his top political rival — is ignoring rising international condemnation of his administration’s prosecution of political opponents. Yanukovych, however, claims that he has nothing to do with the charges against the woman he defeated for the presidency last year. But many internationally — from the U.S. to the European Union to Russia — are skeptical of his claims of non-interference.

Facing up to 10 years in jail for what prosecutors say was exceeding her authorities when brokering the 2009 gas deal with Russia that resulted in a resumption of gas flow to Europe in the dead of winter, Tymoshenko’s defense will give its final arguments after the prosecutorial team.

Serhiy Vlasenko who is part of her defense team told the Kyiv Post that her final argument is 61 pages and could last up to four hours.
And before Kireyev delivers a verdict in the case, Tymoshenko, 50, according to law, will have the opportunity to present her closing argument.

The administration of Yanukovych says the gas deal, which Tymoshenko brokered, left Ukraine paying an exorbitant price for Russian gas supplies. Tymoshenko, who denies the charge, says her prosecution is a political vendetta by her arch-rival.

The continuation of the abuse-of-office trial comes on the eve of an EU summit in Warsaw with Eastern Partnership countries, including Ukraine. The judge’s decision to press ahead with the Tymoshenko case is likely to fuel criticism of eroding democracy in Ukraine. The court case also threatens Ukraine’s progress in achieving a free-trade agreement with EU countries.

Tymoshenko, a leading opposition figure, has been on trial since June and in prison for nearly 60 days. The trial resumes tomorrow Sept. 28, at 9 a.m. Kyiv time.