Tymoshenko lawyers plea for help from European court

Is Yulia Tymoshenko a political prisoner? She believed so, but Ukraine disagreed. On the 28 August 2012 the European Court of Human Rights began to consider the matter.

The European Court of Human Rights held a public hearing on the 28 August 2012 on the admissibility and merits in the case of Tymoshenko v. Ukraine (application no. 49872/11), concerning complaints related to the detention of the former Ukrainian Prime Minister.

However on the 29 August 2012 Ukraine’s highest appeals court upheld the 2011 conviction for abuse of office and seven-year jail sentence for opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, upping the ante in a face-off that has already soured Kiev’s relations with the west.

• Primary Source

Deutsche Welle, 28.8.12: Tymoshenko is counting on Strasbourg http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,16202550,00.html

ESO: Background information: Tymoshenko denied registration as election candidate http://www.europeansources.info/record/tymoshenko-denied-registration-as-election-candidate/

BBC News, 29.8.12: Ukraine court rejects Yulia Tymoshenko appeal http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19408609

ECHR: Tymoshenko v. Ukraine http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng-press/pages/search.aspx?i=003-4055861-4741089

Gazeta Wyborcza / Les Echos, 30.8.12: Yulia Tymoshenko to remain in prison (via PressEurop) http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/2606731-yulia-tymoshenko-remain-prison

EUObserver, 29.8.12: EU 'regrets' Ukraine court decision on Tymoshenko http://euobserver.com/foreign/117362

EU: EEAS: Press Release, A384/12: Joint Statement by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and Commissioner Stefan Füle on the judgement by Ukraine’s Higher Specialized Court for Civil and Criminal Cases in the case of Yulia Tymoshenko http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/132234.pdf

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