The judge in the trial of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko refused her lawyers' motion to have her set free on bail and the criminal case against her returned to the pre-trial investigation stage.
Instead, Judge Rodion Kireyev ordered prosecutors to proceed with closing arguments in the case. The ruling prompted Tymoshenko to call prosecutors "representatives of the mafia."
In pressing ahead, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych — widely seen to be in control of the proceedings against his top political rival — is ignoring rising international condemnation of his administration’s prosecution of political opponents. Yanukovych, however, claims that he has nothing to do with the charges against the woman he defeated for the presidency last year. But many internationally — from the United States to the European Union to Russia — are skeptical of his claims of non-interference.
The continuation of the abuse-of-office trial comes on the eve of an EU summit in Warsaw with Eastern Partnership countries, including Ukraine. The judge’s decision to press ahead with the Tymoshenko case is likely to fuel criticism of eroding democracy in Ukraine. The court case also threatens Ukraine’s progress in achieving a free-trade agreement with EU countries.
The Tymoshenko trial resumed on Tuesday after a two-week break, with the political leadership under pressure from the West to end the case against her. More than 100 observers crowded into the tiny, sweltering courtroom to watch the proceedings.
Tymoshenko, a leading opposition figure, has been on trial since June for abuse of office over a gas deal signed with Russia in 2009. She could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Riot police moved back into place in side streets near the courtroom in central Kyiv in preparation for the resumption of the trial. Hundreds of Tymoshenko supporters have been camped out outside the courtroom throughout the summer in solidarity with her.
The administration of President Viktor Yanukovych says the gas deal, which Tymoshenko brokered, left Ukraine paying an exorbitant price for Russian gas supplies. Tymoshenko, who denies the charge, says her prosecution is a political vendetta by her arch-rival.
On the eve of the trial resuming, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov announced on Monday that Russia had finally agreed to review the 2009 gas contract, which Moscow has so far refused to do.
He gave no details, though a spokesman for the Russian gas giant Gazprom said in Moscow that talks were still continuing between the two sides. Yanukovich visited Moscow at the weekend for talks on the issue with President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
The Tymoshenko trial, which has polarised public opinion in the ex-Soviet republic and caused street demonstrations against Yanukovich, was abruptly adjourned on Sept. 12 after the United States and European Union expressed fresh concern over her prosecution.
Since then, the EU has hardened its position further, warning Yanukovych it could scrap planned bilateral deals on free trade and political association if Tymoshenko is jailed.
Yanukovych’s government, which says integration in the European mainstream is the bedrock of its foreign policy, hopes to initial these key agreements with the EU at a summit in December.
Before then he has to face top EU officials at a "partnership" summit in Warsaw on Sept. 29-30.
The EU says the Yanukovich leadership has responded favorably to a suggestion that it reclassify the charge against her so as to allow her to go free.
But his administration comprises hardliners who want to see Tymoshenko extinguished as a political force.
