Kyiv, September 2 (Ukraine General News) – Former co-rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Ukraine (1995-2007) Hanne Severinsen sees no grounds for keeping Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in custody and is surprised at Ukrainian lawmakers’ removal from the courtroom on Friday.
“I personally do not see any reason for keeping Tymoshenko in custody. I would not find any arguments for this, but I see that the judge finds them,” Severinsen told reporters on Friday outside the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv.
She also expressed surprise and concern at the events that took place in the courtroom on Friday.
Severinsen believes that since Ukraine is a member of the Council of Europe and has ratified the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, it should act accordingly and respect the principles laid down by in this convention.
As reported, officers of the Gryphon special unit forced MP Andriy Shkil and MP Yuriy Odarchenko (both of the BYT-Batkivschyna faction) out of the courtroom of Kyiv Pechersky District Court on Thursday.
Judge Rodion Kireyev, who is presiding over the trial of Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, ruled to expel Shkil from the courtroom because he took a photo of former PACE rapporteur on Ukraine Hanne Severinsen, who came to the court as an observer.
[UA EUROPE EEU EMRG POL PRO]
AK
19:53:23 EET-2
