An investigator of the Prosecutor General's Office has satisfied former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's request to allow MPs Serhiy Sas and Serhiy Vlasenko to act as her lawyers in a criminal case opened against her, in place of Bohdan Ferents, despite the fact that this "is delaying the process of her familiarization with the materials of a pre-trial investigation," the office told Interfax-Ukraine on June 22.
The office said that earlier, a court had set June 25, 2011 as a deadline for Tymoshenko to examine the materials of a criminal case against her on charges of abuse of power and the misuse of budget funds envisaged by the Kyoto Protocol and the purchase of Opel Combo cars.
"Yulia Tymoshenko for some reason refused from the professional legal services of Bohdan Ferents and yesterday asked the investigator for particularly important cases of the Prosecutor General’s Office, Oleksandr Nechvohlod, to allow MPs Serhiy Sas and Serhiy Vlasenko – experts in the field of law – to act as her lawyers. The investigator met her halfway and satisfied her request. Therefore, Tymoshenko’s new attempts to delay the process of examining the materials of a pre-trial investigation are again obvious," the office said.
The ex-premier is charged with the misuse of funds received by Ukraine under the Kyoto Protocol, and abuse of office while purchasing Opel Combo vehicles against government guarantees.
In April 2011, the Prosecutor General’s Office opened a new criminal case against Tymoshenko on charges of abuse of power in the conclusion of 2009 gas contracts.
