Ukraine former President testifies against Tymoshenko

Ukraine’s former president Viktor Yushchenko gave dramatic testimony yesterday against his one-time premier and fellow Orange Revolution leader Yulia Tymoshenko in her controversial abuse of power trial.

Mr Yushchenko was met by cries of “Shame!” from Mrs Tymoshenko’s supporters as he entered the court room to give evidence in a trial that could put his former Orange ally behind bars for up to a decade.

Mrs Tymoshenko sat stony-faced in the court room and refused to ask questions on principle while Mr Yushchenko quietly recalled a government crisis whose repercussions continue to unsettle Ukrainian politics to this day.

“We have to work on annulling this agreement,” Mr Yushchenko said in reference to a 2009 gas deal that Mrs Tymoshenko signed with Russia in the midst of a price war that resulted in a temporary cut-off in supplies to Europe.

Mrs Tymoshenko – a flamboyant but divisive figure who now spearheads the opposition – is accused of signing a bad 10-year deal that the government is now trying to renegotiate amid concerns over Ukraine’s economic health.

The trial has seen Ukraine come under intense criticism from EU nations just as the two sides enter talks on a closer commercial union that could see Kiev slip further away from Moscow’s influence.

Mrs Tymoshenko’s main rival Viktor Yanukovych, who succeeded her as President, has said he has no right to intervene in the case and brushed aside suggestions that it was a part of a broader political vendetta.

Mr Yushchenko was a close ally of Mrs Tymoshenko, appearing at her side during the 2004 Orange Revolution pro-democracy rallies that prevented Mr Yanukovych from seizing power in fraudulent polls.

Mr Yushchenko rewarded the charismatic Mrs Tymoshenko for her help during that uprising by appointing her as his Prime Minister.

But the two had a bitter falling out while serving together in government and Mr Yushchenko was called to testify as a witness for the prosecution.

He arrived accompanied by a bodyguard and soon told the court that he lacked the authority to prevent his prime minister from signing the inter-government agreement with Russia even though it looked like a bad deal.

Mr Yushchenko’s black sedan was pelted with eggs as it pulled out of court after the testimony while Mrs Tymoshenko told the judge at the start of the hearing that she did not want to get into a public fight with her former ally.

“Let God be his judge,” Mrs Tymoshenko told the packed courtroom.

Mrs Tymoshenko has been shuttled to hearings from her prison cell since being placed under arrest for contempt of court on August 5.

Kiev courts have rejected seven attempts by Mrs Tymoshenko’s friends and relatives to have her released on bail – the last made Tuesday by her daughter Yevgenia Carr.