The arrest and detention of the twice former premier occurred when Judge Rodion Kireyev upheld a submission from prosecutor Liliya Frolova to change the restrictions on opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko from a travel ban to arrest and detention. The alleged grounds for his decision were spurious at best. The judge said it was “because of regular violations, interference in establishing the truth and violating court order.”
The petition to change the restrictions was submitted illegally during the questioning of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov. Ukrainian Court procedure does not permit petitions to be lodged during witness questioning. The judge accepted and acknowledged the petition then allowed the questioning of Mr Azarov to continue.
Showing his partiality, the judge prevented the defence from questioning Mr Azarov about RosUkrEnergo, the controversial intermediary company which played a major role in the gas trade. The company was removed from the gas trade by the 2009 gas agreement brokered by then Prime Minister Tymoshenko and her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Following Mr Azarov’s questioning the judge considered the petition and ruled for Ms Tymoshenko to be arrested and detained.
“Because I asked Azarov uncomfortable questions about corruption pertaining to RosUkrEnergo, the prosecutor immediately changed my status from that of a travel ban to an arrest warrant,” said Ms Tymoshenko.
The arrest order sparked uproar from Ms Tymoshenko’s vocal supporters who cried “Shame!” and “Yulia Yulia!” The room quickly filled with Gryphon court police, while outside the courtroom a heavy presence of Berkut special police jostled outraged supporters and journalists. Ms Tymoshenko was handcuffed and taken away in an armoured vehicle. Outside, Tymoshenko supporters formed a human shield but some 300 police broke through the lines and the former premier was taken away to the Lukyanovsky pre-trial detention facility. Her lawyer, Yury Sukhov, went to the prison but was not allowed to see her. The trial resumes today.
The trial of Ms Tymoshenko began on June 24. She is charged with exceeding her authority when she was prime minister and allegedly causing damage to the state of UAH 1.5 billion ($190 million), by signing a gas agreement with Russia in 2009. The agreement ended a damaging standoff with Russia which saw gas supplies disrupted to EU states. At the time, Ms Tymoshenko was praised widely for resolving the dispute and removing from the gas trade the murky intermediary company RosUkrEnergo, while transitioning Ukraine to European market prices for gas with a 20% discount.
Ms Tymoshenko says that she was authorised to sign the contract and has done nothing wrong. The charges are regarded widely as politically motivated and her arrest was met by a swift response from the international community and from fellow opposition parties.
Scenes of the arrest can be found here:
Ukrainska Pravda http://bit.ly/pSKK9I
Channel 5 http://bit.ly/qO5Hdc
Photo: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/34799634/?q=Ukraine
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