You're reading: Ukraine prosecutor seeks jail for Tymoshenko ally

Ukraine's state prosecutor asked a court on Tuesday to impose a four-and-a-half year jail sentence on a former interior minister and ally of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, in a case that could further aggravate relations with the West.

Yuri Lutsenko, who twice served in governments headed by former prime minister Tymoshenko, has been in police custody on charges of embezzling state funds since December 2010. He is the highest-profile political detainee in the ex-Soviet republic after Tymoshenko herself.

The outcome of the Lutsenko case could indicate whether President Viktor Yanukovich’s administration will let up in its prosecution of the opposition. Tymoshenko’s jailing for abuse of office last October has led to a crisis in relations between Ukraine and the West. The European Union has put off the signing of a free trade deal in protest.

Speaking from a metal cage inside the Kiev courtroom, Lutsenko reacted sarcastically to the prosecutor’s jail demand. "I am surprised they did not call for me to be burned on the square straight away," he said.

The former interior minister is accused of having given an apartment as a gift to his driver and of financial irregularities during celebrations marking National Police Day.

"I can say I am surprised at the accusation made against me. They thrust aside all the evidence and based their case on falsehoods by the state prosecutor’s office.

"I deny everything, every single point, like the witnesses who also contradicted (the prosecution’s case)," the 47-year-old said.

Lutsenko now has the right to address the court in his defence. A verdict is expected in the coming days.

Tymoshenko helped lead the Orange Revolution street protests in 2004 that thwarted Yanukovich’s first bid for the presidency. She was jailed in October for seven years over a gas deal that she brokered with Russia in 2009 and which the Yanukovich leadership said harmed the national interest.

WESTERN CRITICISM

Yanukovich only narrowly beat Tymoshenko for the presidency in a run-off vote in February 2010. Political insiders say her prosecution is based on their intense mutual dislike and rivalry.

Despite Western entreaties and fears for Tymoshenko’s health expressed by her family and supporters, Yanukovich has refused to relent and investigators have launched more serious criminal cases against her.

At the behest of her family, a medical team, including three doctors from Canada and two from Germany, tried to visit Tymoshenko in prison in the eastern city of Kharkiv on Tuesday to carry out an independent examination of her.

But her defence counsel, Serhiy Vlasenko, told Reuters by telephone that she refused to see the team because she objected to the presence of Ukrainian doctors. "She is quite ready to be looked at by foreign doctors (alone)," he said.

A former acting defence minister who served under Tymoshenko, Valery Ivashchenko, has also been in detention since August 2010, on charges of illegally selling a ship-repair factory in Crimea.

Tymoshenko’s husband, Olexander, and another ally, former Economy Minister Bohdan Danylyshin, have both fled to the Czech Republic where they have been granted asylum, but some supporters inside Ukraine remain vocal.

Lawmakers from Tymoshenko’s party last week barracked Yanukovich in parliament and unfurled a picture of her. They hold 102 of the chamber’s 450 seats but polls show it is catching the ruling party ahead of elections due in October.