Tymoshenko's defense team soon to go to Supreme Court demanding review and reversal of her sentence in gas case
The defense team of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will soon appeal to the Supreme Court of Ukraine, asking it to review and overturn her seven-year prison sentence in the gas contract case, the ex-premier's defense counsel, Serhiy Vlasenko, has said.
"The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Judge Kireyev was biased. This means that as of today (the date of entry into force of the ECHR's judgment) the defense team has grounds to appeal to the Supreme Court of Ukraine, asking it to review and reverse the politically motivated verdict in the gas case," Vlasenko said at a press conference on Wednesday.
He said that they would do this soon.
On October 11, 2011, the Pechersky District Court in Kyiv sentenced Tymoshenko to seven years in prison for exceeding her authority when signing gas supply contracts with Russia in 2009. She has been serving her sentence at the Kachanivska correctional facility in Kharkiv since late December 2011.
Since May 9, 2012, she has been staying at a Kharkiv hospital and receiving medial treatment there.
The ECHR ruled on April 30, 2013, that Tymoshenko's arrest violated three paragraphs of Article 5 (right to freedom and security) and also Article 18 (restriction of rights) of the European Convention.
On July 30, the ECHR judgment acquired final status.
Ukraine's Justice Ministry said on July 30 that Ukraine fulfilled all of its obligations under the European Court of Human Rights' ruling in Tymoshenko's complaint against infringements by the Ukrainian government of her rights. "Today we can state that the ruling in the Tymoshenko vs. Ukraine case has been carried out in full and entails no further additional actions or obligations on the part of Ukraine. We can also declare the absence of any outstanding obligations under the ruling," the ministry said in a statement.
Apart from the complaint against Tymoshenko's arrest, her defense team also filed a complaint with the ECHR against a violation of her right to a fair and public hearing due to political motives (Articles 6 and 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights), meaning her conviction in the 2009 gas supply case. The proceedings on the complaint were opened in October 2012. On July 15, 2013, the court started to consider the second complaint.
