Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has arrived at the Prosecutor General's Office to provide explanations regarding her statements about pressure being allegedly put on Constitutional Court judges to recognize the legitimacy of the current parliamentary coalition.
Tymoshenko entered the building of the department for the support of public prosecutions in the courts at around 1440, an Interfax-Ukraine reporter said.
At the entrance to the building, located at 3b Hrinchenko Street in downtown Kyiv, Tymoshenko said that BYT MP Viktor Shvets, who worked as her lawyer several years ago, was accompanying her and would represent her interests.
Tymoshenko said that she had brought a written address with her, which indicates the amount of bribes that were offered to judges, and added that it was written evidence of her allegations.
However, she declined to specify from whom she received such an address.
"I brought a written address with me, which clearly says what bribes were offered to the judges, what offers were made to them, how they were intimidated, and what steps were taken against them so that 11 judges voted against the constitution," Tymoshenko said.
She also said that political repression in Ukraine had started from today, since she was called to the prosecutor’s office.
"I think that today is the very day, April 7, which can be marked in the calendars as the start of political repression," Tymoshenko said, adding: "I think that Mr. [Ukrainian President Viktor] Yanukovych could put me in jail, using the repressive machine, but he won’t deprive me of the freedom to express my thoughts."
She said that under no circumstances would she conceal any information she has.
"I came here not to defend myself, I came here to defend the Constitution of Ukraine and the remnants of democracy," Tymoshenko said, adding that she was not planning to conceal anything from the Prosecutor General’s Office, because she "has nothing to fear."
Tymoshenko said that as far as she knew, the Constitutional Court had already issued a ruling declaring the creation of the parliamentary coalition legitimate.
She said that 11 judges of the Constitutional Court had voted for such a decision.
Tymoshenko said that the court, at the request of the Ukrainian president, "abruptly changed its position."
"The two diametrically different rulings by the same court indicate that a certain part of Constitutional Court judges committed a crime yesterday while taking a decision that contradicts the Constitution," she said.
