Brussels, June 9 - The European Parliament has adopted a resolution criticizing the Ukrainian authorities' use of criminal law as a tool to achieve political aims.
The resolution was supported by the majority of parliamentarians at a plenary meeting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Thursday.
June 8 the European Parliament has drafted a common resolution on Ukraine in which the basic clauses remained unchanged – with calls not to use criminal law to prosecute the opposition and not to restrict the freedom of movement of political leaders.
A draft resolution, entitled "The cases of Yulia Tymoshenko and other members of the former government," was agreed upon at a special consultative meeting of political groups, which was convened in Strasbourg on Tuesday in order to find a compromise.
Earlier, the European Parliament submitted five separate draft resolutions for discussion (from five out of the seven parliamentary groups), and as a result of talks the positions of four groups were reflected in the joint draft resolution, in particular, the European People’s Party, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, the Greens/European Free Alliance and the European United Left/Nordic Green Left.
The Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) refused to support the resolution.
As before, the European Conservatives and Reformists Group abstained.
The joint draft resolution by the European Parliament includes a clause that previously appeared in most draft resolutions in which the parliament warned the Ukrainian authorities "against the possible use of criminal law as a tool to achieve political ends, and calls on the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that judicial measures are not used selectively, and investigations, prosecutions and trials are held in maximum transparency."
On May 26 The European Union said it was concerned about "suggestions of political motivation" behind criminal cases brought against Yulia Tymoshenko. Ukrainian prosecutors on May 24 charged Yulia Tymoshenko with abuse of office for signing a gas import contract with Russia at prices that officials say were too high.
Prosecutor General’s Office spokesman Yuriy Boychenko said Tymoshenko’s actions cost the state 3.5 billion hryvnia ($440 million) in damages.
He declined further comment on the charges and the possible sentence.
The contract was signed amid a bitter pricing war with Russia, in which Russia cut off shipments to Ukraine.
Government officials say the contract commits Ukraine to pay prices for natural gas that are higher than many other European countries.
Tymoshenko, who has also been charged in two other cases, refutes this claim.
Читайте об этом на www.kyivpost.ua
