Ukraine Tries to Limit Tymoshenko Damage
Ukraine on Wednesday attempted to contain the damage caused to its image and diplomatic ties after both the West and Russia angrily condemned the jailing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
A Kiev court on Tuesday jailed the leader of the pro-Western 2004 Orange Revolution for seven years, prompting allegations that President Viktor Yanukovych was resorting to Stalinist methods to deal with opponents.
The jailing of Tymoshenko for abusing her powers in a gas deal signed with Russia in 2009 -- an offence that would not have even come to a criminal court in Europe -- has also endangered Ukraine's hopes of EU integration.
Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko defiantly rejected criticism that the trial was politically motivated, saying Tymoshenko "was not prosecuted for her political beliefs but specific actions violating Ukraine legislation."
"Nobody should be above the law," he told reporters on a trip to Estonia.
But Yanukovych has also emphasized the court's decision was not final and his Regions Party has hinted that possible changes in the law to decriminalize the articles under which Tymoshenko was condemned could resolve the crisis.
Gryshchenko acknowledged that it was "important for Ukraine to have very serious reform of the judicial and legal system" although he said he was not referring to a specific case.
Top Yanukovych advisor Anna German told Channel 5 in an interview that "we need to take lessons from what has happened and reform our laws so that similar situations are not so painful for Ukraine."
Pro-Tymoshenko MPs in the Ukrainian parliament have said they will put forward a proposal to decriminalize the article in the criminal code when it resumes sitting next week.
The Regions Party of Yanukovych, which holds the majority in the Verkhovna Rada, has said that it could support such a move, although it has yet to take any concrete decision. Yanukovych is due to visit Brussels on October 20.
Analysts have speculated that the change in the law could conveniently pave the way for Tymoshenko to be freed once the case is brought before the appeals court and allow the authorities to save face.
"I do not doubt she will be freed," said Volodymyr Omelchenko, head of the Gorshenin Institute. "When depends on the economic situation."
Tymoshenko was also ordered to repay the full 1.5 billion hryvnia ($189 million) financial losses she was judged to have caused state gas company Naftogaz in the 2009 deal to import gas from Russia.
Energy Minister Yuriy Boiko said Wednesday that the court decision would be implemented and the funds used to buy natural gas for Ukraine, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.
The dramatic jailing of Tymoshenko earned condemnation not only from the West and the European Union but also Russia, leaving Kiev in a state of diplomatic isolation.
"Getting such a reaction from the world really must have required some work," said Vitaly Portnikov, editor-in-chief of the TVi channel, writing for the online newspaper Levy Bereg.
"By quarrelling at the same time with Moscow, Brussels and Washington, angering Warsaw and infuriating Berlin, Ukraine has become a unique state on the map of Europe," he wrote.
Ukraine had hoped to sign an association agreement with the European Union this year, a first step towards membership.
But EU foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton warned that a full reassessment of the EU's ties with Kiev could be needed. "The EU is deeply disappointed with the verdict. The EU will reflect on its policies towards Ukraine," she said.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington was "deeply disappointed" by the decision to jail Tymoshenko. The verdict raised "serious concern" over Ukraine's commitment to democracy, she added.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who oversaw the signing of the 2009 gas deal, said he did not "completely understand why she has been given these seven years."
Source: Agence France Presse
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