Tymoshenko: Yanukovych locked me up in prison on false charges

Ukraine's ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has urged the parliaments and leaders of democratic countries and Ukrainian citizens to resist President Viktor Yanukovych's 'dictatorship.' 

'I am addressing you from behind prison bars where I and other opposition political leaders have been locked up by President Yanukovych. He locked me up in jail on false charges in the best traditions of totalitarianism in order to leave the opposition without a leader, to bury democracy and to perpetuate his authority,' Tymoshenko said in an appeal posted on her website.

Ukraine is moving back towards a 'tragedy' and towards 'the dark world of dictatorship,' she writes.

She cited Freedom House's recent report in confirmation of her arguments.

'Ukraine is already moving away from freedom and from the democratic world. This is not a dim possibility, but a reality. The loss of freedom is becoming increasingly apparent,' she said.

The title which Freedom House chose for its report - Sounding the Alarm - was the right title, since responsible world leaders, politicians, public figures and journalists in Ukraine and beyond its borders see the situation in Ukraine the same way Freedom House does, and think that the advancement of a new dictatorship must be stopped immediately in Ukraine," she said.

Reports said earlier that Tymoshenko's appeal was read out by Tymoshenko's daughter Yevhenia at a press conference in Washington.