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Appeals court in Kiev refuses to change pretrial measure for Timoshenko

Timoshenko’s supporter who attended the court session reacted to the judge’s statement by shouting out "How are you going to exist on the Earth?", "Shame!"

KIEV, December 1 (Itar-Tass) – Appeals court in the Ukrainian capital Kiev has turned down all the petitions filed by the lawyers defending the country’s former Prime Minister, Yulia Timoshenko.

The court’s decision was made public by Judge Rapporteur Yelena Sitailo upon the end of a preliminary session.

She said there were no clear grounds for entertaining the petitions. In part, Sitailo turned down the lawyers’ request to change the pretrial measure for Timoshenko and to release her from custody.

“There are no visible grounds for this at the current stage,” she said briefly.

Simultaneously, the court refused once again to suspend the consideration of criminal cases featuring Timoshenko on the grounds of her health condition and to order a new court investigation, expert studies and face-to-face interrogations.

Timoshenko’s supporter who attended the court session reacted to the judge’s statement by shouting out ‘How are you going to exist on the Earth?’, ‘Shame!’ and ‘Kireyev / the district court judge who issued the initial sentence to Timoshenko – Itar-Tass’/ has mutated into a blonde!”

Kiev’s Pechersky district court sentenced Yulia Timoshenko to seven years in jail on charges of the abuse of occupational powers during the signing of gas supplies agreements with Russia in January 2009.