IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 28 

Condemning the persecution of political opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko 

as well as other political prisoners, among them former internal affairs 

minister Yuri Lutsenko. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 14, 2013 

Ms. KAPTUR submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the persecution of political opposition leader 

Yulia Tymoshenko as well as other political prisoners, 

among them former internal affairs minister Yuri 

Lutsenko. 

Whereas these trials have been seen by the international community as political persecution against the opposition of 

the government of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych; 

Whereas starting on May 2010 a number of criminal cases 

were opened against Yulia Tymoshenko and against ministers and officials from the previous government led by 

her under the assertion that these cases were brought 

forth to fight corruption in Ukraine; 


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•HRES 28 IH 

Whereas Ms. Tymoshenko was charged in May 2011 over 

abuse of office in regards to a 2009 natural gas import 

contract with Russia and her trial began on June 24, 

2011; 

Whereas, on August 5, 2011, the court ruled that Ms. 

Tymoshenko was in contempt of court and imprisoned 

her for the remainder of her trial, a period of over two 

months; 

Whereas the fairness of the trial has been in question due to 

Ms. Tymoshenko being denied legal representation on two 

occasions and not being offered an appropriate amount of 

time for her defense team to prepare for trial; 

Whereas, during her imprisonment, Ms. Tymoshenko began 

to show signs of severe illness and the court refused her 

request to be examined by a personal physician; 

Whereas, on October 11, 2011, the court found Ms. Tymoshenko guilty of abuse of power, sentenced her to seven 

years in jail, fined her $189 million and banned her from 

holding elected office for a period of 3 years disqualifying 

her from participating in the 2012 parliamentary and 

2015 presidential elections; 

Whereas, in September 2011, in commemoration of Ukraine’s 

20th anniversary of independence, H. Res. 401 notes 

concern about the appearance of politically motivated 

prosecutions of opposition figures in Ukraine, among 

them Ms. Tymoshenko; and 

Whereas world governments have lambasted the decision 

against Ms. Tymoshenko calling it politically motivated 

and questioned Ukraine’s commitment to democracy and 

rule of law: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 


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•HRES 28 IH 

1 (1) condemns the verdict against Yulia Tymo2 shenko as well as the unfair circumstances in which 

3 the trial took place and requests that she be released 

4 from custody while the verdict is appealed; 

5 (2) demands the Government of Ukraine imme6 diately release all political prisoners as well as pro7 vides proper medical care to all those that have been 

8 imprisoned; and 

9 (3) demands that Ukraine adhere to the prin10 ciples of democracy and rule of law by respecting 

11 human rights, freedom of the press, and the protec12 tion of free speech and the right to assemble peace13 fully. 

Æ 


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