Yulia Tymoshenko during announcement of sentence

A Kiev court announced on Tuesday that it found former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko guilty of abusing her authority by signing a 2009 gas deal with Russia. Prosecutors have demanded that Tymoshenko, currently Ukraine’s leading opposition figure, be sentenced to 7 years in prison.

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© Photo : Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc-Batkivshchyna party

Tymoshenko was brought to the courtroom at 8 a.m. Kiev time (05:00 GMT). The ex-premier, 50, was wearing a grey dress and her traditional braid.

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© RIA Novosti . Grigory Vasylenko

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Tymoshenko’s husband Alexander and her daughter Yevgeniya, who are part of her defense team, were also present in the courtroom.

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© Photo : Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc-Batkivshchyna party

During the court session, Tymoshenko read documents using her iPad.

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© RIA Novosti . Grigory Vasylenko

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When the judge announced a break, Tymoshenko told journalists that the Danish Helsinki Committee on Human Rights “confirmed” that her case was “false and politically motivated.” The Committee has expressed concerns over the trial in a special report, saying charges against Tymoshenko were “criminalizing normal political decisions with which the present government disagrees.”

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© Photo : Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc-Batkivshchyna party

Tymoshenko said she would not allow anyone to “degrade her good name” - “neither [Viktor] Yanukovych, nor [Rodion] Kireev,” referring to the Ukrainian president and Pechorsky Court judge presiding her trial.