The President of the European People’s Party (EPP),Wilfried Martens, expressed his regret after the rejection of Yulia Tymoshenko‘s appeal by the Ukraine’s hight court:

“This decision surprises nobody. Regretfully, the decision shows once again that justice in Ukraine is only a tool manipulated by the Ukrainian regime in order to consolidate its power,” President Martens stated.”The European Union, the United States of America, and major international organisations have already declared that the trial, which sentenced the former Prime Minister, did not respect international legal standards and was politically motivated. It would be too easy now for the current regime to pretend to organise free and fair elections in October, after decapitating its political opposition.

President Yanukovych, should not expect democrats and friends of Ukraine to be so naive,” EPP President added.Now that all legal remedies in Ukraine have been exhausted,  President Martens urged for a speedy review of Yulia Tymoshenko’s case by the European Court of Human Rights:

“My hope is that the court in Strasbourg, which is the ultimate defender of European values, will be able to deliberate on the case as soon as possible. The European future of Ukraine depends on it,” Martens concluded.

For more information: Kostas Sasmatzoglou, EPP Spokesman, Tel. +32-2-2854147Javier Jiménez, EPP Senior Press and Communication Officer, Tel. +32-475480446
Note to editors: The EPP is the largest and most influential European-level political party of the centre-right, which currently includes 73 member-parties from 40 countries, the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, 16 EU and 7 non-EU heads of state and government, 13 members of the European Commission and the largest Group in the European Parliament.