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Prominent public figures in Ukraine ask president to pardon Timoshenko

The authors of the letter asked the Ukrainian president to pardon Yulia Timoshenko and relieve her of unjust punishment

KIEV, March 21 (Itar-Tass) — Around a hundred prominent public figures in Ukraine have appealed to President Viktor Yanukovich, asking to pardon ex-prime minister Yulia Timoshenko. They signed a letter addressed to the president, which was made public at a press conference on Wednesday by writer Dmitry Pavlichko, former Chief of the Ukrainian Pardons Commission Levko Lukyanenko and a judge of the Hague international tribunal for former Yugoslavia Vladimir Vasilenko.

The authors of the letter asked the Ukrainian president to pardon Yulia Timoshenko and relieve her of unjust punishment. The letter brands a resolution on Timoshenko's imprisonment for seven years as "politically motivated, illegal, a challenge to the whole Ukrainian society and an encroachment on democracy, freedom and human rights."

The authors of the letter urged the Ukrainian president to overcome his own injured pride so as to correct the abnormal situation, prevent Ukraine from plunging into chaos, avoid political vendetta and breach of the law.

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