Rodion Kireuev, the judge of Kyiv's Pechersky District Court presiding in the Russian gas supply contract case, has described the emotional reaction by former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to the court's refusal to satisfy petitions lodged by her lawyers as an attempt to discredit the country's judicial system.
An Interfax-Ukraine reporter said that Kireyev had satisfied a petition to request evidence and attach it to the case only in one point. This point concerns photocopies of Tymoshenko’s instruction to former Fuel and Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan.
Kireyev rejected the rest of the petition, which concerned the need to request a number of other documents.
This caused another emotional statement from Tymoshenko: "Maybe you’ll let the defense go, and send me back to prison?"
She said that if Kireev refuses to satisfy petitions from the defense, there was no point in listening to either her or her lawyers.
The judge described the ex-premier’s statements as "theatrical pronouncements."
"The court considers that such statements to be aimed at discrediting the judicial system," he added.
Tymoshenko’s defense asked the court to request and attach to the case materials an agreement between Naftogaz Ukrainy and Ukrtransgaz of 2008 on the supply of technical gas, protocols approved at Naftogaz meetings in January 2009, orders on Naftogaz’s accounting policies, as well as payment orders on gas supplies.
