Ukraine court rejects attempt to provide for Tymoshenko’s release

A Ukrainian high court rejected on October 14 an appeal submitted by the defense of imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to review the verdict in her conviction. It was the second rejection by the court of the same appeal this year. Had the court approved the appeal, it would have submitted it to the Supreme Court of Ukraine, which could have ruled to overturn the verdict in Tymoshenko’s conviction. With the court’s verdict, the administration of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych spit in the face of the EU, said a press release from Tymoshenko’s Fatherland party. “The defense resubmitted its complaint on October 9, giving Yanukovych yet another legal path to resolving the problems of selective, politically motivated justice,” the release said. “Yanukovych cynically abused this gift, demonstrating to Europe double standards.”

Tymoshenko is ready to accept a pardon without full rehabilitation as her compromise to resolve the current conflict, said Tymoshenko lead defense attorney Serhiy Vlasenko in an interview with the LigaBiznesInform news agency. That compromise would include her ability to travel to Germany for medical treatment and would absolve her of the need to return to prison, Vlasenko said. There’s many other options in resolving the Tymoshenko puzzle that are open to President Yanukovych, Vlasenko said. For example, the charges for which she was convicted could be decriminalized by the parliamentary majority, he said.

The majority of EU member-states consider the EU’s long-term strategic relations with Ukraine more important than the release of imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, former EU Enlargement Commissioner Gunter Verheugen said in an interview published by the Ukrayinska Pravda news site on October 14. At the same time, it’s possible that one or two EU member-states will emerge that will vote against signing an Association Agreement with Ukraine because not all the conditions were met, including arranging for Tymoshenko’s release. “Politically, what’s happening isn’t wise and it would be correct if Ms. Tymoshenko were released before the Vilnius summit,” he said.

Zenon Zawada: The ruling by the Ukrainian high court indicates President Yanukovych isn’t willing to remove the burden of the criminal conviction from Tymoshenko. That’s why we believe a presidential pardon is also unlikely, especially considering that Tymoshenko hasn’t submitted official request (despite the verbal appeals of her lawyer, Vlasenko).

In light of these developments, we believe Tymoshenko will have to agree to a formula that allows her to gain medical treatment in Germany but without her conviction being overturned or her charges being decriminalized. That means she’d have to return to prison upon her return to Ukraine. The EU leadership said it views that solution as unacceptable (as likely does Tymoshenko), but it might have to accept it as an attempt at compromise by the Yanukovych administration, which needs to save face in this situation.