Ukrainian leader says freedom is at risk

KIEV, Ukraine, May 24 (UPI) -- Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, under questioning on a natural gas deal, said Tuesday freedom is in danger.

The former prime minister told ForUm, a Ukrainian Internet newspaper, she would meet with European diplomats to discuss the state of human rights in Ukraine and repression by the government.

"At the request of ambassadors of all European countries I'm going to meet with them because their concern over what's going on in Ukraine is clear," she said before entering the Pechersk Court in Kiev.

The court is questioning Tymoshenko at the request of prosecutors who say she obstructed investigation of a Russian-Ukrainian natural gas deal during her tenure, RIA Novosti reported.

Prosecutor Renat Kuzmyn said Tymoshenko would be allowed to go home after questioning.

Tymoshenko said the diplomats "want to speak with me right away and understand how to stop the situation in Ukraine, which, based on global opinion, is one of authoritarianism, kleptocracy, absence of rights and law. What the government is doing today has nothing to do with democracy."