EU sends former Polish president to supervise Tymoshenko prison sentence appeal
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
11.06.2012 10:16
Former Polish president, Aleksander Kwasniewski is in Ukraine, Monday, as part of an EU team monitoring Yulia Tymoshenko’s appeal against the seven year prison sentence she was given in December last year.
Aleksander Kwasniewski: photo - PR/Wojciech Kusiński
Aleksander Kwasniewski is accompanying former European Parliament president Pat Cox Ukraine ahead of the appeals trial on 26 June.
As special EU envoys, Kwasniewski, president of Poland between 1995 and 2005, and Cox will have free access to the former Ukrainian prime minister, who was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for “abuse of power” when concluding an energy deal with Russia in 2008.
The two EU envoys will also meet with Ukrainian prime minister Mykola Azarov on their current, one-day visit to Ukraine.
Tymoshenko’s imprisonment and alleged beatings from pruison guards has prompted many European politicians to boycott Euro 2012 matches currently on in Ukraine. (pg)