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European politicians not know legal side of Timoshenko case, first deputy prosecutor general said

Kuzmin recalled that Ukraine proposed Europe to send its lawyers to the country to study the criminal case against Timoshenko

Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

KIEV, June 18 (Itar-Tass) — European politicians do not know a great deal about the case of former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Timoshenko, first deputy prosecutor general Renat Kuzmin said in his comments on the statements made by Former Polish European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton.

They described this case as political.

“None of them studied the legal side of the case and do not know the essence of accusations and the pronounced sentence. Everybody is engaged in making political assessments and mainly speak with us through political slogans,” he said in an interview with the Kommersant Ukraine business daily on Monday.

“In my opinion the talks about democracy serve as a cover to hide the real state of affairs,” he said.

“The Timoshenko case has two components: legal and political. The legal one is quite clear for all lawyers and nobody has doubts that Timoshenko is a criminal. Her involvement in the crime is proved by two judicial authorities,” the first deputy prosecutor general said.

Kuzmin recalled that Ukraine proposed Europe to send its lawyers to the country to study the criminal case against Timoshenko and the whole process and to give it their legal assessment.

“If now a group of lawyers arrives in Ukraine, we will be only glad to cooperate with them. We are ready to show all documents the prosecutor-general’s office has obtained and provide all necessary materials for them to have an unbiased opinion about the Timoshenko case,” he said.

“Now all assessments that are made in Europe look very much like PR-campaigns of certain political forces who seek to mobilize their own voters for their elections - either to the national parliament or to the European parliament,” Kuzmin said.

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