Tymoshenko lawyers offer Yanukovych latest pretext to release her

Lawyers for imprisoned former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko resubmitted to an appeals court on October 9 a request to review her conviction, which they said creates another opportunity to release her in accordance to EU requests. The resubmission gives the appeals court the ability to transfer the complaint to the Supreme Court of Ukraine (which it has failed to do once already). That would create the legal pretext to overturn Tymoshenko’s conviction and set her free, her defense attorneys said, as reported by the Kommersant-Ukraine newspaper. The European Court for Human Rights ruled in July that Tymoshenko’s rights were violated during her arrest and incarceration. Party of Regions MP Volodymyr Oliynyk said the European Court’s ruling applied to her arrest, not to her conviction, which the Supreme Court of Ukraine can’t overturn entirely, but merely cancel for a retrial, Kommersant reported.

Zenon Zawada: Tymoshenko and her lawyers have put Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in a position in which he can no longer claim legitimately that his hands were tied in being able to resolve this conflict. If he decides not to release Tymoshenko, he will be held responsible for putting his interests above Ukraine’s national interests, especially after Tymoshenko announced on October 4 her attempt at compromise, which is being willing to travel abroad for medical treatment if she is pardoned or released another way.

At this point, Yanukovych’s decision remains a mystery with no one knowing what to expect. We believe that the Ukrainian president will realize that on a strictly pragmatic level, he has more to lose by keeping Tymoshenko imprisoned rather than releasing her. But we’re seeing that he’s going to test the EU’s resolve on this issue to the fullest extent, still waiting to see whether its leaders will fold their cards first.