You're reading: Prosecutors give Vlasenko permission to defend Tymoshenko

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister and Batkivschyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko has said that the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office has given permission for MP Serhiy Vlasenko to act as her defense lawyer in a criminal case against her on gas contracts.

"When you stand by the positions of the law and the constitution, then no matter how unprincipled the government is, it will be obliged to observe the positions of the law. Today the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine officially allowed Serhiy Vlasenko to act as my lawyer," Tymoshenko told reporters after another round of questioning at the Prosecutor General’s Office on Tuesday.

She said that this had confirmed that her demands were legitimate.

"Today it’s already clear that the Prosecutor General’s Office scuppered the presidential administration’s efforts, in violation of the law, not to permit Vlasenko [to act as my lawyer]," she said.