Ukrainian Opposition Names Jailed Former Premier As Presidential Candidate

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
December 07, 2012

KYIV -- Ukraine’s United Opposition Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party has announced that jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will be its presidential candidate.

Batkivshchyna’s Arseniy Yatsenyuk told journalists in Kyiv on December 7 that he hopes the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg will make "the right decision" and exonerate Tymoshenko before the 2015 presidential election.

Tymoshenko is currently in prison serving a seven-year sentence after being convicted in October 2011 for abuse of office during her term as prime minister.

Tymoshenko is still facing charges that she evaded millions of U.S. dollars in taxes in connection with a private energy company she headed during the 1990s.

Tymoshenko says she is the victim of a political vendetta by President Viktor Yanukovych, who defeated her in the 2010 presidential election.

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