STRASBOURG, France (AP) — Lawyers for Yulia Tymoshenko, the Ukrainian opposition leader who has been jailed and convicted of abusing her office, are appealing before the European Court of Human Rights.
The Tuesday hearing comes one day before a court in Ukraine is expected to rule on her appeal in the conviction, which she says is politically motivated.
Tymoshenko was an architect of Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution. She was sentenced to seven years in prison in October 2011 over allegations involving a gas contract negotiated while she was prime minister.
Tymoshenko’s daughter, Eugenia, was at the courthouse in Strasbourg ahead of Tuesday’s hearing. She was pessimistic about Wednesday’s ruling in Ukraine. She said the “process has been prearranged and prewritten by the regime.”
Ukraine could face penalties if the Strasbourg court rules against it.
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