You're reading: France worried about PGO’s claim Tymoshenko involved in murder of Scherban

PARIS – The French authorities are concerned over the reports that former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko is suspected of organizing the murder of MP Yevhen Scherban, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of France, Philippe Lalliot, said on Wednesday.

“We deplore this new case against Mrs. Tymoshenko, which is part of
the investigation into the death of Scherban. We noted that France and
its European partners have previously expressed their concern about the
evidently unjust and politically motivated trial of Tymoshenko and other
members of the opposition,” he said at a briefing in Paris.

“For a year-and-a-half we have been urging Ukraine to put an end to
the arbitrariness of the judicial system and to comply with its
international obligations and the principle of the rule of law,” Lalliot
added.

The French Foreign Ministry’s spokesman said that Kyiv hopes to
continue the process of drawing closer to the EU and sign an association
agreement with the EU as soon as possible.

According to him, before the EU-Ukraine summit scheduled for February
25, Kyiv needs to demonstrate that it is really ready to draw closer to
Brussels and to take into account the EU’s concern about certain events
in Ukraine.

As reported, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka said on
January 18 that the criminal inquiry into the murder of lawmaker Yevhen
Scherban in 1996 was over and that Tymoshenko had been handed a notice
saying that she was suspected of organizing Scherban’s murder in
collusion with ex-prime minister Pavlo Lazarenko.