New EU Ambassador to Ukraine Jan Tombinski has said he believes that there are political prisoners in Ukraine.
“There are political prisoners in Ukraine, and this statement can be
heard even from people who are closely related to the current government
camp,” the diplomat said in an interview with Polish Radio, which was
posted on the radio station’s Web site.
He said that this issue was being discussed by both Ukrainian and foreign politicians and Ukraine’s partners.
“The dialog with Ukraine is being held at various political levels,
and I have the impression that the current authorities in Ukraine
already realize that delaying this situation makes Ukraine a prisoner of
this case. In the same way as [former Prime Minister] Yulia Tymoshenko
is a prisoner, Ukraine also becomes a prisoner of Yulia Tymoshenko,” he
said.
Tombinski became head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine this September
after former EU Ambassador Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira left Kyiv.
On October 11, 2011, Pechersky District Court in Kyiv sentenced
Tymoshenko to seven years in prison for abuse of office in signing gas
contracts with Russia in 2009.
The former prime minister is serving her prison term in the Kachanivska penal colony in Kharkiv.
