Three religious denominations have asked the court to change the restrictive measure against former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. The petition was read in court by the ex-premier’s lawyer, Yuriy Sukhov.
"I would like to announce a petition to change the measure of restraint from incarceration to release on bail," said Yuriy Sukhov, according to the official Tymoshenko website.
He read statements by Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate, representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and Baptist Church.
The petition for release on bail was submitted to the court by People’s Deputy of Ukraine and former political prisoner Levko Lukyanenko.
He also read a statement from Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Commissioner Nina Karpachova on the need to review the restrictive measure applied to Tymoshenko.
"I ask that you review your decision to change the measure of restraint to one not involving detention," she said in her statement, adding that arrest was too severe a penalty.
Earlier Judge Rodion Kireyev has rejected a petition lodged by Tymoshenko’s lawyer Yuriy Sukhov to change the measure of restraint against his client from arrest to bail.
Earlier on Monday, Kireyev refused to cancel Timoshenko’s arrest at the motion of her lawyer because the lawyer had not produced information about any new circumstances that would justify such a change.
The prosecution insisted on Tymoshenko’s arrest after Prime Minister Mykola Azarov was interrogated as a witness.
The United States and the European Union have criticised her detention.
