Did Ms. Tymoshenko sign a bad deal for corrupt reasons in 2009? I’ve no idea. If she were given a genuine trial by an independent court we might find out, but from the charade that convicted her we found out only that there’s nothing worse than politics dressing twitchy officials in robes to masquerade as justice.National Post columnist George Jonas • Writing about the situation Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine’s former Prime Minister, has been facing in jail of late. Tymoshenko went to jail over an energy deal with Russia that went sour for Ukraine, and has been shown in not the best shape of late, currently on a hunger strike, injured from a recent attack by prison guards. Jonas suggests that, with this tale, Ukraine is starting to look like one of the world’s more corrupt nations: ”A country holding its own ex-prime minister for ransom is either a lingering effect of 70 years of communism or a breakthrough in the quest for rock bottom. Perhaps Ukraine is about to open a new chapter in the history of piracy and blackmail.”
Ex-Ukrainian Prime Minister struggles in prison: On the left, Yulia Tymoshenko as people knew her from her Orange Revolution days in 2009. On the right, Tymoshenko in prison, days after she says prison guards attacked her when she resisted being taken to a local hospital. The former Ukranian leader, imprisoned soon after leaving office for what many in the West suggest were political reasons, refuses medical treatment for her severe back pain out of worry they’ll just make things worse. A sad look for a once-powerful figure. (AP Photos)
The end of Ukraine’s experiment with democracy? Just a few years ago, Yulia Tymoshenko was one of the most popular politicians in Ukraine. Then she lost power in a narrow 2010 election, and Viktor Yanukovich gained it. Yanukovich pursued Tymoshenko’s role in a set of negotiations with Russia over the price of natural gas — something which, at best, would constitute a political controversy in the U.S., but certainly not something worthy of jail time. But this is Ukraine, and Tymoshenko got sentenced to seven years in prison on Tuesday. Does this signify a move away from traditional democracy for the country? How does a political icon like Tymoshenko (who’s probably far-more-known in the West than Yanukovich) get jailed for what was, at worst, a political scandal? Seems questionable. (photo via the European People’s Party Flickr page) source
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