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Police cordon off Tymoshenko supporters tent camp in Ukrainian capital

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Police on Sunday cordoned off a tent camp set up in the center of the Ukrainian capital by supporters of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko to demonstrate their protest against her arrest.

Police on Sunday cordoned off a tent camp set up in the center of the Ukrainian capital by supporters of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko to demonstrate their protest against her arrest.

The police also blocked all approaches to the Pechyorsky district court where Tymoshenko is on trial on the charges of the abuse of her post during her term.

Five buses carrying special police force arrived early on Sunday at the Pechyorsky Court, with four of them coming close to the tent camp.

Several opposition lawmakers who are among the protesters at the tent camp have declared their tents "public audience rooms" which cannot be dismantled under any court ruling.

The Pechyorsky court satisfied on Friday a request by a prosecutor to arrest Tymoshenko, who has been prosecuted for signing a 2009 gas contract with Russia, rather than just maintain a current ban on her traveling outside Kiev, citing repeated violations of court order by the defendant.

On Sunday the court banned mass gatherings at the sites till August 31, satisfying a lawsuit filed by the Kiev Mayor's Office.

Kiev has accused Tymoshenko, currently Ukraine's opposition leader, of signing the gas deal, which was disadvantageous to the country, without approval from her government. Tymoshenko has dismissed the charges as "politically motivated," saying she is being targeted for opposing President Viktor Yanukovych, who narrowly beat her in the presidential election in February 2010.

In late July, the court rejected a previous request by the prosecutor to arrest the former premier.

Tymoshenko's lawyer, Yury Sukhov, said he would appeal her arrest on Monday.

Human right groups, including Washington-based Freedom House, have denounced Tymoshenko's arrest.

 

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