Brussels, 12/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 11 April, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych stated that it is “impossible” to pardon the former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, as long as she has not been judged in two other trials. “As long as the justice system has not finished with Tymoshenko, it is impossible to examine a possible pardon”, he said, recalling that she is involved in two court cases. “The sooner they are over, the sooner it will be possible to start examining the issue of a pardon”, he added.
At the beginning of the week Tymoshenko's lawyer, Sergey Vlassenko, asked again for her freedom because she has been “accused and sentenced in a totally illegal way”, and he asked for her “complete rehabilitation”.
The European Union wants Ukraine to settle its issues of selective justice, including the case of Tymoshenko. The signing of the EU-Ukraine association agreement at the Eastern Partnership summit in November 2013 is conditional upon “determined action and tangible progress” in the reforms of selective justice, of the elections and of the association agenda (our translation throughout).
Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2011 for abuse of power. She is currently on trial for a tax fraud affair and has been accused of aiding and abetting the murder of a member of parliament in 1996. (CG/transl.fl)