Tymoshenko appeals criminal probe on 2009 Ukrainian-Russian gas contracts
KYIV. May 10 (Interfax) - Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the Batkivshchyna party and a former Ukrainian prime minister, has filed a complaint with Kyiv's Pechersky Court against the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office for opening a criminal investigation related to the 2009 Ukrainian-Russian gas contracts against her.
"Serhiy Volodymyrovych [Vlasenko, a parliamentarian representing the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, whom Tymoshenko wants to see as her defense attorney] and I have appealed the directive on opening a criminal case on gas issues with the Pechersky Court," Tymoshenko told journalists before being questioned at the Prosecutor General's Office on Tuesday.
The complaint was filed on May 4, she said.
Tymoshenko, however, was quite skeptical about the Pechersky Court's independence, saying she knew its worth. "We don't have any illusions that the Pechersky Court or some other court can go against the authorities and make legal decisions rather than ordered ones. But at the same time, we want to go through all possible stages in Ukraine so as to show Ukrainian society what we have instead of courts. This will be a test, and I insist that the appeal against the directive on initiating a criminal case on all gas contracts be heard in court publicly," she said.
Vlasenko, who was accompanying Tymoshenko at the Prosecutor General's Office, said the Pechersky Court had not yet set the date for hearing the complaint. The court is currently deciding which of the judges will hear the complaint and when.
Vlasenko insisted that the court is violating the law, as the complaint was filed more than five days ago, the term within which a court is supposed to make all the necessary decisions on considering it.
It was reported later that the Prosecutor General's Office officially permitted Vlasenko to act as Tymoshenko's defense attorney in the criminal proceedings dealing with the 2009 gas contracts.
"When you adhere to the law and the constitution, no matter how unprincipled the authorities are, they also have to adhere to the law. The Prosecutor General's Office officially permitted Serhiy Vlasenko to be my defense attorney today," Tymoshenko told journalists after leaving the Prosecutor General's Office on Tuesday.