You're reading: Media: Tymoshenko’s colleague Shkil gone to Czech Republic, could become another political refugee

A colleague of former Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko, Andriy Shkil, who did not win a seat in the new parliament under the Batkivschyna United Opposition lists and who has been deprived of deputy immunity from prosecution, is in the Czech Republic now and does not rule out that he could ask for political asylum there.

“Everything depends on Ukraine. With the situation developing the way
it is today, I don’t rule out such a possibility,” he said in an
interview with the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia. Ukraine (zn.ua) publication, while
commenting on the issue.

Shkil added that political persecutions against him never stopped and
a case on events on March 9, 2001 outside the presidential
administration during the “Ukraine without Kuchma” action has not been
closed.

He also confirmed reports that a part of his property was arrested in Ukraine and said that he did not know the reason for this.

“I never was engaged in any other activities, except for politics,” he said.

Shkil was No. 87 on the list of parliamentary candidates of the
Batkivschyna United Opposition at the 2012 parliamentary elections in
Ukraine.

As reported, in 2011 the Czech Republic granted political asylum to
former Economy Minister from the Tymoshenko-led government (2007-2010)
Bohdan Danylyshyn, and to Tymoshenko’s husband Oleksandr Tymoshenko in
January 2012.