It would perhaps be amusing, had it not been for the human lives damaged by this ridiculous – and illegal – affront to democracy…
The case of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who has been in prison since August and was in October sentenced to seven years in prison on abuse of office charges, took a bizarre twist on Dec. 8. Judge Andriy Trubnikov of Shevchenkivsky District Court decided to hold a court hearing in her prison cell.
The hearing, of course, was behind closed doors. Neither journalists nor members of the opposition were allowed into Lukianivka detention center.
The judge was trying to decide whether to issue a second arrest warrant for Tymoshenko that the prosecutors are requesting.
The prosecutor’s office and the State Security Service, or SBU, said this week they have 10 ongoing cases against the former prime minister.
The cases are widely considered to be nothing more than a politically motivated attempt by President Viktor Yanukovych to sideline his main rival. Nevertheless, prosecutors have requested a second arrest warrant for Tymoshenko.
The decision to hold a hearing in a Lukianivka prison cell on this issue was taken because Tymoshenko’s health has, apparently, deteriorated to the point that she cannot travel any longer. Some opposition members have suggested she needs surgery.
Authorities have been slow to react to her health issues, claiming instead that she refuses to see state-appointed doctors, to give blood for tests and that she has “European” conditions in her cell.
Tymoshenko’s lawyer, Serhiy Vlasenko, said there is no law that allows or regulates a traveling court hearing.
Other lawyers interviewed by Kyiv Post have said Tymoshenko’s in-prison hearing violates laws regulating open trials. It’s worse than that: These tactics smack of creeping Stalinism.
Tymoshenko’s daughter Yevheniya Carr suggested that the whole farce is taking place because the appeal case hearing is scheduled to start on Dec. 13, and the authorities are trying to make sure she remains in jail, even if her appeal is a success.
Even if the verdict is reversed, she faces 10 other cases, dating back to her gas trading business in 1990s.
But if this court circus continues, she has no chance.
If this is how the game will be played with oppositionists in Viktor Yanukovych-ruled Ukraine, expect the country to get ever closer to Russia soon, not Europe.
