You're reading: Tymoshenko verdict scheduled for Oct. 11, Western pressure ignored

To the shouts of “Glory to Ukraine” from the defendant, Judge Rodion Kireyev adjourned the trial of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko until 9 a.m. Oct. 11 at which time he is expected to decide whether she is guilty or not of the abuse of office charges she faces.

Tymoshenko’s supporters in the crowd yelled “Glory to the Heroes” before Kireyev ended proceedings by denying her four hours to prepare her closing oral arguments.

The Prosecutor General’s Office accused Tymoshenko of exceeding her authority while negotiating gas contracts with Russia in 2009 and inflicting the state coffers over Hr 1.5 billion in damages.

Prosecutors want her to spend seven years in prison and reimburse the state for financial losses, while seeking an order that prohibits her from holding public office for up to three years.

The "gas case" hearings began on June 24. Tymoshenko was arrested in the courtroom on Aug. 5 and has been jailed ever since on contempt of court charges.

Tymoshenko rose for the first time in the trial on Sept. 29 and told the judge that she expects to be found guilty of the charges on orders of President Viktor Yanukovych, who is facing sharp criticism at a European Union summit in Warsaw that ends today.

Western leaders are demanding Tymoshenko’s release on the charges that they consider to be politically motivated to sideline the Ukrainian president’s top rival.

When the verdict is read, 31-year-old Judge Kireyev said he would ban diplomats and members of parliament from the courtroom, allowing only pre-registered journalists. This order is further fueling speculation that a guilty verdict has already been decided.

“As a citizen of Ukraine, I’m appalled at the decision not as a member of parliament but because the law stipulates that anyone has the right to attend public trials,” said Andriy Shevchenko, a deputy in the Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko faction, after the court adjournment.

Sehiy Taran, director of the International Democracy Institute told the Kyiv Post the 10-day break will allow the authorities to “think of plan B.” “They (the authorities) will for example package and sell their position by, for example, decriminalizing the articles in the criminal under which Tymsohenko is being charged or have the judge rule that there was insufficient evidence in the case and dismiss her,” he said.

The testimony ended with a flourish. Tymoshenko presented a document that purportedly shows prosecutors ordering the state-run Naftogaz energy company to claim that her 2009 gas deal with Russia, ending a three-week shutoff, cost the nation $190 million.

“They don’t care about justice or evidence,” Tymoshenko told the packed courtroom of 60 spectators. “This shows that we live in a dictatorship. These proceedings have shown that Yanukovych’s authoritarianism has never changed. The case is utterly absurd. It shows Yanukovych doesn’t want Ukraine to become a European country.”

Ukraine is close to sealing a free trade agreement with the EU as part of a larger treaty it is negotiating with the 27-nation bloc.

Tymoshenko’s lawyers say the charges should be dismissed because their client acted in her role as prime minister to reach a political solution to the 2009 gas crisis, which had cutoff gas supplies to Europe in the dead of winter because of Ukraine’s role in transiting supplies.

They demanded that she be acquitted and set free at once, motions the judge refused. Her lawyers questioned why the investigation lasted only two months and why prosecutors were ordered to work overtime to speed up the charges.

Think tank director Serhiy Taran said the authorities fast-tracked the trial for two reasons: “The highest government officials up to the president are sick and tired of hearing criticism from Western diplomats and officials; they also don’t want this to become a campaign issue for next year’s parliamentary elections.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].