[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 435 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 435

    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

                            October 13, 2011

 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;
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
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the verdict against Yulia Tymoshenko as well 
        as the unfair circumstances in which the trial took place and 
        requests that she be released from custody while the verdict is 
        appealed;
            (2) demands the Government of Ukraine immediately release 
        all political prisoners as well as provides proper medical care 
        to all those that have been imprisoned; and
            (3) demands that Ukraine adhere to the principles of 
        democracy and rule of law by respecting human rights, freedom 
        of the press, and the protection of free speech and the right 
        to assemble peacefully.
                                 <all>