Lawyers of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko have filed an appeal against a ruling by the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv declaring lawful the opening of a criminal case against Tymoshenko related to gas contracts signed in 2009, the Ukrainska Pravda Internet publication has reported.
Tymoshenko’s defense lawyer and MP from the BYT faction, Serhiy Vlasenko, said that the appeal had been lodged at Kyiv Court of Appeals.
"We filed [the appeal] on Friday [May 20]," he said.
According to Vlasenko, a date for the consideration of the appeal has not been set.
In April 2011, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office opened a third criminal case against Tymoshenko concerning her exceeding her authority and abusing office in signing natural gas contracts in 2009. The case was opened under Part 3 of Article 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. It has been claimed that the actions of the former premier caused losses to the state worth UAH 1.5 billion.
On May 16, the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv ruled that the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office lawfully opened a criminal case the premier on the Ukrainian-Russian gas contracts.
