Yulia Tymoshenko Found Guilty of Exceeding Powers, Sentenced To 7 Years In Prison

Judge Rodion Kireyev

The trial of former prime minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko came to a verdict on Tuesday, according to which she did not have any constitutional prerogatives to sign the deal with the Russian Gazprom in 2009. Prosecution accused her of exceeding her powers and are seeking for a seven-year jail sentence as the former prime minister continues to assert that her trial is a political one and that she would fight for Ukraine’s democracy “to the last breath.”

The judge Rodion Kireyev read the verdict by which she was accused of exceeding her powers but made no comment on whether she would be sentenced on that, neither did he pronounce any sentence.

The 31-year old continues to consult until passing a final verdict, that could lead to the end of Tymoshenko’s political career, if she is convicted.

The verdict is expected with unrest by the supporters she still has in the streets of Kiev, while the riot police were ready to face any possible reaction to it. Minor scuffles occurred but nothing serious, showing that the days of the Orange Revolution, when Mrs Tymoshenko was galvanizing millions with the promise of an Western way of live, are gone.

In spite of the unconditional support offered by the United States and the European Union, which went to great lengths to accuse the regime in Kiev that the trial was being tempered with and politically motivated, the fundamental fact of this trial is that some of Tymoshenko’s former “orange” associates testified against her during the trial.

The most spectacular was the testimony given in August by former president Viktor Yushchenko, who said under oath that he had not been informed by the negotiations Tymoshenko was conducting with the Russian Gazprom, that he had not been consulted and that he found out about the contract after it was signed and someone he trusted procured him a copy from the prime minister’s office.

But the exceeding of constitutional powers is surpassed, in former president’s testimony, by the economic damage the deal produced. Yushchenko said that the former PM refused to sign a contract with the Russians for $250 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas but in exchange she signed a contract for $450 per 1,000 cubic meters.

With the discount the Russian offered the Ukrainians paid $360 per 1,000 cubic meters, but in former president’s opinion the deal could have been cut at $100 cubic meters.

In his testimony, Yushchenko also said that at the time of the contract Ukraine was having 24 billion cubic meters of natural gas in its national stocks, which did not justify the purchase at such astronomic prices.

At that time he said that the details of the deal and the entire accusation against his former political ally could be cleared only if incumbent prime minister of Russia Vladimir Putin and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller were invited to testify in court. Which did not happen in this case.

Gazprom issued a statement at the beginning of the trial in favor of Tymoshenko’s plea, saying that the deal was concluded with the observance of both Russian and Ukrainian laws.

But if the facts check as Yushchenko depicted them, the question is not of breaching any law but of oversizing the prices, which though it is not a criminal offence according to the law of commerce can become a grave offence of incompetence when the activity of a prime minister is under scrutiny.

Yulia Tymoshenko continued to tell the press in the statements she made that it was not “judge Kireyev who was reading the verdict but Viktor Yanukovych himself,” accusing the political character of the trial.

As the judge entered the court, she continued to remain seated when everybody else stood for the judge, displaying the same kind of attitude that placed her under arrest in August, when she was held in contempt of court after insulting the judge and continuing to say that he was the “puppet” of the regime, an accusation embraced to some extent by her Western supporters.

On that occasion, the former PM told the judge that she would not address him with “Your Honor,” because honor must be earned, and that she would not answer the court’s questions. During the subsequent sessions of the court she became more compliant.

People Protesting Against Tymoshenko's Trial

It is believed that since the Western countries are set to side with Tymoshenko, a possible sentence that would put her in jail could end Yanukovych’s efforts to create a trade agreement with the European Union, intended as a first step toward admission to the EU.

By that Yanukovych wants to take the European orientation leverage away from Tymoshenko and her allies, by posing as the one who delivered what Tymoshenko kept promising.

Western countries went as far as to warn him that if Tymoshenko goes to prison and her career is over, he would become a persona non grata in Europe and every negotiation with the continental body would be stopped.

Poland, which is holding the rotating presidency of the European Union, has championed the case of Ukrainian integration to the EU, and urged that the Tymoshenko case be solved in a manner that would not affect the process of integration.

It is possible that the Europeans nuance their position a little bit, now that president Putin announced his intention of creating his own Eur[opean]asian Union, where Ukraine is expected as a valuable member, perhaps the most valuable member besides the Russian Federation itself.

Yanukovych could play this card right to achieve his goal. For the time being he slammed the accusations against him regarding the trial by reminding the European nations that justice was a free branch of democracy but also refused all sorts of promises Russians lured him with in order to bring him over to the side of the Eurasian Union.

Yulia Tymoshenko is not the first former Ukrainian prime minister to be convicted in a trail. Former prime minister Pavlo Lazarenko is serving a 9-year sentence in an American federal prison since 2006, after being convicted for money laundering, wire fraud and extortion.

Update: The court in Kiev passed the sentence by which Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison.