KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities have formally notified jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko that she is a suspect in the murder of a businessman and lawmaker in 1996.
Tymoshenko is suspected of "ordering and organizing" the contract-style murder of Yvhen Scherban, his wife and two other people, the Prosecutor General's Office said on its website Friday. Prosecutors say the killing appeared aimed at eliminating a business rival.
The move stops short of formally charging Tymoshenko, but indicates charges are likely. Prosecutors have said for months that she was being investigated in the case. Tymoshenko denies the accusations and says it is part of a broader campaign by her foe, President Viktor Yanukovych, to keep her in prison and bar her from politics.
Tymoshenko is serving a seven-year prison term for abuse of office while negotiating a gas deal with Russia in 2009.
The new case was likely to further spoil Ukraine's ties with Western nations, which have called Tymoshenko's imprisonment politically motivated. The European Union has frozen a key cooperation deal with Ukraine over Tymoshenko's imprisonment.
Tymoshenko's party said a formal announcement of suspicion represented a "shameful day in the history of the Ukrainian law enforcement system."
"Their fear has paralyzed their mind. They are no longer hiding the fact that they want to lock away for life not only the leader of the opposition, but also the whole of Ukraine," the party said in a statement.
The European Court of Human Rights is expected to rule on the Tymoshenko case in the next several weeks, and analysts said the murder case was the government's attempt to keep her in jail during the 2015 presidential campaign if the European court rules in her favor in the gas case.
"It is evident that the Ukrainian authorities are really and seriously intent on keeping Tymoshenko in jail," said Vadim Karasyov, a political analyst with ties to the government, according to the Interfax news agency.
Meanwhile, Tymoshenko's family and allies have expressed concern over the state of her health. Tymoshenko is undergoing hospital treatment for a severe back condition. Her lawyer, Serhiy Vlasenko, said Friday that when he tried to see her recently, she was unresponsive for several minutes. Doctors insisted she was in a satisfactory condition and was under the influence of sedatives.
Tymoshenko's office said Saturday that they have been unable to reach Tymoshenko and inquire about her health since that incident.
Its so bad there i was almost taken by a Ukrainian vampire ! Its so bad there they dont salt the sidewalks in Kyiv ! Its so bad there all these women are looking for a western man for love and i cant find one of them (lol) !
Sunvolt, you still here? you felling better? PM me and I will set you up on a date with a girl who speaks english. my "introduction fees" are cheap, lunch usually covers it, lol
This unending persecution of Yulia is beyond the absurd. Im not saying she hasnt been shady throughout her career but this latest round of accusations
is ridiculous. Its an effort to keep her out of politics forever and now I think the idea is for her to die in prison. Ive met her a couple times through
her daughter before she met the wierd british guy and married him. was during the orange revolution period.
"...he(Alyona) did till 8:00pm and we texted it is now exactly 9:50pm and i am meeting her at 10:30 and her girlfriends in this little Ukrainian restaurant pub on my street named Proreznaya which is straight across from McDonalds uphill a little.She is tired and will be sleeping in tomorrow she said .Earlier for dinner a hostess in traditional Ukrainian costume flirted with me at a Cossack restaurant early evening.She(Tonya) is meeting me for breakfast in the morning all in the neighborhood.I am almost completely recovered from the flu.Beemer, i had plans but its like the military, it can all go south real fast. But i regrouped and am actually meeting kind local girls who speak english mostly in the shopping mall (underground). Restaurant workers. Kindly ask if they speak english is a great introduction tool.
I guess a lot can happen....or cannot happen!!!
I just never did like meeting by chance while there...few speak enough english and many not interested in a foreigner. I have always thought the biggest obsticle is convincing girl to leave.....her family, friends and country.
Beemer ,
It`s a total odyssey .On my taxi ride to Borispol to fly home the taxi driver of my apartment complex named Vladimir asked me how things went . They all knew why i was there and i told him it was all piece meal with no outstanding results. He reaches down opens his glovebox and pulls out an envelope and gives me a stack of polaroid photos of his families wife`s friend in Vinnetsa . He says she is not on the internet and cannot find a man for marriage in Vinnitsa.He claims she is not of those type. He says women from Kyiv are all vultures. All high fashion with no money .She(Victoria) is 32 slender and beautiful no children. I laughed and said do you expect me to beleive another round of this quackery ? He says okay, he opened up his cell phone ,dialed and handed it to me.It was her , she speaks perfect English and says she wants to start a family . So , here we go again ..... I truly enjoy Kyiv , but i am not a city man but only to visit not liveeven in USA and i don`t beleive a woman from Kyiv can adjust to a non -city environment. Then again i was originaly supposed to be in Yalta, then Mariupol then ,then then........... (lol). I had a good time, met women ate good and the flu is gone and i am home. Anyone been to Vinnitsa ????? P.S. missed connection from Frankfurt to Chicago because they could not plow the snow fast enough at Borispol. Lufthansa gave me a free hotel and buffet voucher and flew back next morning yesterday. Guys , stay away from Aerosvit. Word is completely unreliable.
Thanks Sunvolt
I haven't been to Vinnytsia (spelled lots of different ways in our alphabet), but I would love to explore some of the smaller towns. I occasionally look at profiles of women from there, and imagine it could be a more pleasant experience than meeting women from the big cities.
The question of adjusting to non-city life is a big deal, in my opinion. Suburban/rural life is so dramatically different, I suspect that many "city girls" would be quite unhappy there. My "quest" started years ago when I fell for a Ukrainian woman who had lived most of her life in Kyiv, but spent a good part of her childhood in her grandma's rural village. For her, leaving the city behind wouldn't have been a problem at all.
As for Aerosvit, it has a bad reputation among Ukrainians, but I have flown it several times without any real problems. I have no brand loyalty, I take whichever airline has the lowest fares at the time I want to go. At times, Aerosvit has been much cheaper.
Aerosvit I avoid like a plaque. I guess I am too late to introduce you to nice girl here. glad you are home safe sunvolt and have
good health.
As for your taxi driver, do NOT discount his relative. girls "offline" are probably the best prospects of all. They arent beholden to an
agency and their family knows their quest. Seems girls Ive met at Karavan or McDonalds are more genuine than agency girls.
Sunvolt,, In 2010 I needed to take a taxi from Odessa to Kherson and chose one online. They advertised luxury sedans or SUVs and English speaking drivers! I got a Mazda and a driver that only knew a few words,,,, but that’s normal. On the way, we somehow got talking about hunting, he was originally from Vladivostok, and hunted up in Murmansk. He showed me the photo of his moose on his cell phone,,, I then did a moose call for him right in the taxi! I then started up my old computer and showed him my hunting photos as well as photos from home. When he saw the photos of my farm,,, he said: Ahh,,,, I want that!!! I figured he meant a farm like that???? A few days later,,,, much sooner than expected, I needed to travel from Kherson to Nikolaev,,,, when he arrived, a gorgeous girl was in the back seat!! I start thinking to myself,,,,, wife, date, escort, daughter??? Daughter! He also brought along several photo albums,,, of hunting and family pics! The girl was young,,, I’m guessing between 18 and 21 , and I didn’t think it was a good idea to ask! They knew why I was there. I also thought I had something to meet, but the plans went astray in both Kherson and Nikolaev!
The driver was a few years younger then me,,,, and it seemed really creepy to ask about somebody’s daughter!! Was the girl there simply as an interpreter,,, or was she there for me to meet??
If a taxi driver is from a company that you contacted online or through a hotel or travel agency, you may not have any worries,, but if it is someone you just met,,, I might worry! You could be getting set up,, especially if nobody knows about it. You could get rolled by the blind date or driver.
Ranger,
This is interesting stuff.Jetmba got interesting events also. Everytime i go over there ,there is always something that makes you think and can get a little puzzled. Some situations can be very sticky. Sometimes with the police involved.Traveling between cities with an unknown driver can end up like being an episode of Harrison Fords Raiders of the Lost Whatever.I would love to ship my genuine wehrmacht German 1942 Zundapp KS750 w/ sidecar(i`ll leave the MG34 at home unfortunately) over there to travel between towns looking like the Marlboro man to find the holy grail plus seeking high adventure! My events,2004, i got circled by a band of young gypsies maybe about 6-8 who harassed the shit out of me on Kreshatyk Street in the middle of the day and they were relentless for about a block. I was ready to start swinging plus i was walkng with two ladies.Shit was getting deep real fast and they were not letting up and no police or pedestrians were helping.We were in the center of a pack of barracudas. So i finally thought practical and yanked the two ladies into a finer clothing store asking the manager for protection and she kept us in the back office for a while and then let us out the back door into an alley and we ran the other way.Another time,2005 i exited my apartment near Independance Square and was approached by two young Kyiv city policeman . They stopped me and asked are you American? I said yes. They said passport. I changed jackets and left it in the other. I offered them inside my apartment to get my passport the door was 50 yards away. They said 100 dollars non negotiable or jail. So the prick got a free weeks pay. So Ranger about drivers,my former girlfriend from Kyiv back in 2004-2005 worked for Kyiv adoption agency and had to transport western couples by either train,plain, bus or taxi to orphanages.She said a trusted taxi driver was essential on longer road trips.Anything can happen So said the agency in Mariupol if they are beleivable. My former said people start tipping people off from the beginning itinerary of westerners being taxied on a trip. Also the people working in gas stations along the way keep bandits informed of the progress and occupants being transported. She said several times her trusted driver eluded attempts of bandits attempting blocking and robbing on very desolate stretches and the westerners were shitting themselves, so would i .My problem is i everyone i see over there is white so i think it`s okay(lol)!
I think it was 2006, I was just west of the Maidan when I got the shakedown from 2 cops -- maybe the same pair :) -- I had my passport, but not the landing card. I got away only $20 lighter.
What you wrote about ambushing taxis is news to me, though I certainly can believe such a thing. I suspect that it's safer to travel by bus, you're just another slob schlepping between towns.
Durak, In fact those gypsies were Georgian gypsies i was told, relentless. I now keep that passport sewed to my arse and i also keep two photo copies of it. One on person and one in ny suitcase.So the policia got you too. You know ,i actually saw the f----r two days later in uniform on patrol . My then girlfriend wanted to go up to him and bite his arse. She had connections with the court amd embassy people from city government because of her adoption work.
"landing card," or Migration Card, is something many countries require foreign visitors to fill out before passing Passport Control. US citizens are no longer required to use them in Ukraine, but still were at the time of my shakedown.
In the system used by some of FSU countries, the left-hand side of the paper is taken when you enter the country, and the right-hand side is taken when you leave (each time, at Passport Control). Visitors who fill out these documents are supposed to carry the exit (right-hand) side with them.
I lost my landing card on my last trip to Mexico -- nearly missed my flight home because of it!
After we left the apartment at Kiev, I noticed my wallet was not in my pocket. My natural reaction was, I was pick pocketed. After thinking about it, my prime suspect became the maid and the apartment manager.
The last time I saw that wallet was on my bedside table. The apartment manager went in and showed us the rest of the units by opening a door from ours. As we went inside the door, the maid came in. We left shortly after that. I made sure that the apartment was empty of our things. I don't remember putting the wallet in my pocket.