Joint Statement on judgement by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Tymoshenko v. Ukraine

EU News 211/2013

30 April 2013
Brussels
A 232/13

Joint Statement by EU High Representative, Catherine Ashton, and Commissioner Stefan Füle on today’s judgement by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Tymoshenko v. Ukraine

Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, and Štefan Füle, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, made today the following statement:

"Today’s judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Tymoshenko v. Ukraine confirms the concerns consistently expressed by the EU regarding the arbitrary legal proceedings in the case of Yulia Tymoshenko.

In light of today’s judgement, we call on the Ukrainian authorities to reconsider thoroughly the situation of Ms Tymoshenko, the leader of one of the strongest opposition parties in the country, who remains detained after a trial that did not respect fair, transparent and independent legal proceedings. We stress the importance of a clearly expressed commitment by the Ukrainian authorities to early implementation of all judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.

We also continue to encourage the Ukrainian authorities to work closely with the European Parliament’s monitoring mission to Ukraine headed by former Presidents Cox and Kwaśniewski with a view to redressing the effects of the current situation and removing outstanding concerns regarding selective justice in Ukraine.

Ukraine also needs to take urgent steps to remedy the systemic procedural shortcomings identified in this ruling, as part of a comprehensive reform of the judiciary, to prevent recurrence of arbitrary decisions and allay concerns over the selective use of justice. This is essential in order to fully implement the conclusions of the 10 December 2012 Foreign Affairs Council and the joint statement of the EU-Ukraine Summit of 25 February 2013.”

Source and additional information:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/136966.pdf

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