You're reading: Tymoshenko ends appeal in Ukraine

Ukraine's jailed ex-prime minister says she will end efforts to overturn her conviction for abuse of office in her country, claiming Ukrainian courts are controlled by the government.

Yulia Tymoshenko, the nation’s top opposition leader, was sentenced to seven years in jail in October in a trial the West has condemned as politically motivated.

Tymoshenko’s office said Thursday that she is pulling out from all legal proceedings in Ukraine and will press her case in the European Court of Human Rights. Tymoshenko charged the courts will not be objective in Ukraine as long as her longtime foe, President Viktor Yanukovych, is in power.

Her lawyers said that a Kiev court hearing her appeal has adjourned until Friday and is likely to continue with the case despite Tymoshenko’s absence.