Tymoshenko Arrest Angers Opposition
August 6, 2011 by UPI - United Press International, Inc.
KIEV, Ukraine, Aug. 6 (UPI) — An opposition leader in the Ukrainian Parliament called Saturday for an emergency session on the arrest of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
The arrest during a court hearing Friday also has been criticized internationally, RIA Novosti reported.
Mukola Tomenko, the vice speaker of Parliament said Ukraine is in a “situation of unlawfulness.”
“Today, Parliament is the only place where the opposition can at least present an alternative perspective on what is going on in Ukraine and on the unprecedented unlawful and undemocratic actions of the authorities,” Tomenko said.
Tymoshenko, who came close to defeating President Viktor Yanukovych in the most recent presidential election, says the case against her is political. She is accused of illegally signing a gas agreement with Russia in 2009.
She had been banned from traveling outside Kiev but was ordered detained by a judge Friday.
David Kramer, president of Freedom House in Washington, said the arrest “has moved this situation from the absurd to the outrageous.”
In Russia, a Kremlin official told the Kommersant newspaper the arrest could have “long-term consequences” for Yanukovych.
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