The European Court of Human Rights could declare illegal the arrest of former Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko, the Verkhovna Rada's Commissioner for Human Rights Nina Karpachova has said.
"She has every chance in the European Court… If no right is given to appeal against the arrest, this is a crude violation [of her rights]," she said on September 16 at a press conference in Kyiv, when asked whether the European Court of Human Rights could declare Tymoshenko’s arrest unlawful.
Karpachova stressed that Ukrainian legislation does not envisage there being the right of appeal against arrest. She explained that only an accused person has such a right.
"She [Tymoshenko] was arrested when she had the status of an accused person, and had no right to appeal to a court of appeals… That’s why I am calling on the people’s deputies to amend the legislation and make it possible to appeal against arrest," she said.
When asked whether she recommends that Tymoshenko appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, the ombudswoman said, "This is her right."
