10 more cases opened against Tymoshenko

KIEV, Ukraine, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Ten more criminal cases have been opened against former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the country's deputy prosecutor said.

The cases include one accusing Tymoshenko of making arrangements to bribe Supreme Court judges in 2003 and another charging she exceeded her authority, ITAR-Tass reported Wednesday.

Tymoshenko, a leader of Ukraine's pro-Western Orange Revolution, also was accused of misusing funds received from the sale of greenhouse gas emission quotas and buying Opel Combo vehicles at inflated prices, officials said.

In October, Tymoshenko was sentenced in a corruption case to seven years in prison, a three-year ban on government jobs and a $189 million fine. She was convicted on charges of abusing her official authority by awarding gas contracts to Russia in 2009 -- a case she said was politically motivated.

The verdict has been widely condemned. The European Union and the United States said Tymoshenko's sentence was politically motivated and a selective use of the judicial system. Russia has also criticized the sentence as politically motivated.