Court refuses to reduce Tymoshenko’s bail
Yulia Tymoshenko in court (Photo: Transparency International Ukraine / Telegram)
Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) upheld a UAH33 ($870,000) bail requirement for Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the largest parliamentary opposition party Batkivshchyna, Transparency International Ukraine reported on Jan. 26.
At the same time, Tymoshenko’s appeal was partially granted: the ruling lifted restrictions on travel outside Kyiv and contact with MPs.
On Jan. 23, the full bail amount was posted for Tymoshenko by “friends and colleagues,” as she described the benefactors.
Tymoshenko is suspected of offering bribes to lawmakers in exchange for votes in the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada). On Jan. 14, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) published audio recordings in which a woman’s voice — believed by investigators to belong to a lawmaker — discusses payment amounts and gives instructions on how to vote on specific bills, including those related to appointments and dismissals.
During a hearing at the HACC on Jan. 16, Tymoshenko said that another voice heard on the NABU recordings belonged to Servant of the People lawmaker Ihor Kopytin. She alleged the case was a “provocation” orchestrated against her at the bureau’s behest. Tymoshenko denied all corruption allegations and called the recordings fabricated.
If convicted, the MP faces up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property.
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