Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko attends an international meeting on the European gas crisis in Moscow on January 17, 2009. The conference at the Kremlin failed to bring an agreement to restore supplies of Russian natural gas via Ukraine. (UPI Photo/Anatoli Zhdanov) |
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KIEV, Ukraine, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko should be allowed to meet with European leaders in Brussels if she chooses, the Ukrainian president said.
A Kiev court ruled in early February that Tymoshenko couldn't leave the country to visit European leaders. She is accused of misusing federal funds during her tenure as prime minister. Critics say the accusation is part of a smear campaign meant to diminish complaints about President Viktor Yanukovych.
Yanukovych, however, said he was concerned by the court decision and felt Tymoshenko should be able to leave the country if she wants.
"I believe she should have such an opportunity," he said in a statement. "If she has a desire to go, then she shouldn't be denied the right to move with no restrictions."
European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek said in the wake of the court decision that the Ukrainian courts were practicing "selective" justice by putting extra pressure on Tymoshenko.
Tymoshenko said she believes the courts are dragging their feet on the funding issue.
"The investigators have been instructed to drag things out so that I can't attend the parliamentary hearings (on pension reform) that are being broadcast live on TV," she said in statements posted on her Web site.
