Newly elected President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz has said that the situation with former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is complicating the path of Ukraine's European integration.
"I think that Tymoshenko deserves a completely different attitude to the one she got. I also think that the Ukrainian government should pay attention to the fact that this whole process over Tymoshenko did not appear to be politically motivated," he said in an interview with Deutsche Welle, which was published on the German broadcaster’s Web site on Monday.
However, he did not rule that the trial of Tymoshenko had indeed been politically motivated.
"In any case, it’s hard for me to imagine that there was such an attitude as imprisonment applied to the country’s former prime minister, who was credited with several achievements for the sake of the country," Schultz said.
As for the association agreement, Schulz welcomed the EU’s decision to postpone further action with respect to this document.
"I think that the EU did the right thing by exercising certain pressure on Ukraine. However, relations between the EU and Ukraine should not be brought into dependence only on the Tymoshenko case. Therefore, we found ourselves in a difficult position," he said.
According to Schultz, "it would be easier if the Tymoshenko question were resolved."
"Personally, I would like to see this problem solved in the interests of the country’s internal stability and international cooperation, and I would like Ukraine to stop the legal persecution of Tymoshenko. This can be done with a pardon by the president," Schultz said.
On Oct. 11, 2011, Pechersky District Court in Kyiv sentenced Tymoshenko to seven years in prison for abuse of office in signing a gas deal with Russia in 2009.
Tymoshenko was put in a pre-trial detention center in Kyiv on Aug. 5, 2011.
On Dec. 30, she was transferred to Kachanivska penal colony No. 54 in Kharkiv.
Kyiv’s Shevchenkivsky District Court ordered the arrest of Tymoshenko under the UESU case.
Because of this, Tymoshenko is being held in the pretrial detention center of the Kachanivska colony in Kharkiv and is not involved in community work.
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