The Czech Republic does not provide "political asylum," but according to its international obligations, it provides international protection to refugees, including in the form of "asylum," the Czech Embassy in Ukraine has said in a statement regarding the provision of asylum to Oleksandr Tymoshenko, the husband of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
"Individuals who apply for asylum may have different reasons, not necessarily political ones, and these individuals are not always politically active. Applications are always considered individually," the embassy said in a statement posted on its official Web site on Wednesday.
At the same time, the statement notes the inaccuracy of reports given "by journalists, commentators and representatives of some official agencies in Ukraine" that Tymoshenko was granted the so-called "political asylum" in the Czech Republic.
The embassy said that it possesses no information about the reasons for the submission of an application by Tymoshenko, the course of the administrative process and the reasons for the decision to provide asylum to him.
"In the Czech Republic, only the Interior Ministry possesses such information, which, according to the law and international conventions, it has no right to disclose to a third party," reads the statement.
