Kyiv court re-arrests jailed Tymoshenko

A Kyiv district court ordered jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to be re-arrested, her lawyers reported on Friday. The order followed two days of court hearings in Tymoshenko’s jail cell as she is reportedly unable to move due to medical reasons. Tymoshenko was initially arrested back in early August and subsequently sentenced to a seven-year jail term on October 11 for her role in signing a gas supply contract with Russia in 2009. Tymoshenko faces an additional ten criminal investigations. Brad Wells: The re-arrest looks like a pretext to keep Tymoshenko in jail if she manages to get a break in her appeal hearing, which is due to begin Tuesday, December 13. The treatment of Tymoshenko is turning farcical, with the court sessions in her jail cell unprecedented. The developments look like they will further complicate Ukraine’s relationship with the European Union, with just one week left before the annual EU-Ukraine Summit.