Tymoshenko's arrest was lawful by old Criminal Procedure Code - prosecutors

15:44, 30.04.2013 1 min read

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's arrest under the gas case complied with the old Criminal Code and was legal when it was ordered, an official with the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office said.

"The court order for Tymoshenko's arrest was absolutely legal in the summer of 2011 when the Soviet-era Code of Criminal Procedure was in effect, which said that arrest must be ordered if fears arise that the suspect may dodge or obstruct justice," Mykhailo Shorin, the head of the Main Department for Attorney's Representation in the Judiciary of the Prosecutor General's Office, told Interfax in comments in regards to the European Court of Human Rights' ruling on the Tymoshenko case.

The new criminal code in effect now "envisions alternative measures and qualifies arrest as an exclusive measure," he said.

The European Court of Human Rights announced a ruling on Tuesday saying that Tymoshenko's arrest was political and that Tymoshenko's rights were violated, earlier reports said.