Critics claim Yulia Timoshenko is merely posing as a victim of persecution in order to deflect accusations that she bought votes
Veteran Ukrainian politician Yulia Timoshenko was charged this week with seeking to bribe her fellow MPs for their votes, and denounced the current government as a “de facto fascist regime” which she intends to fight.
Ukraine’s Supreme Anti-Corruption Court met Friday to review the case against Timoshenko and decide on bail. During the hearing, the Batkivshchina (Fatherland) party leader proclaimed her innocence and insisted she is the target of a politically motivated crackdown orchestrated by Vladimir Zelensky’s office.
She defiantly exclaimed, “I shall not disappear. I will remain here until the country is freed from this de facto fascist regime,” eliciting gasps from those gathered in the courtroom.
Moscow has repeatedly directed similar accusations at the Zelensky government, maintaining that his tenure has expired and that Kiev remains under the thumb of radical nationalists, whose ideology is rooted in neo-Nazism.
Although formally in opposition, Timoshenko’s faction has largely supported Zelensky’s policies, including last year’s crackdown on the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
Zelensky reversed legislation that had stripped independence from the Western-backed agencies after foreign donors threatened to cut aid and blamed MPs, including those from Tymoshenko’s party, who voted for the changes.
Commenting on the accusations that NABU and SAPO brought against Timoshenko in an RT interview, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov claimed that she has ample experience voting for parliamentary vote-buying schemes.
The senior lawmaker “is doing what she did 30 years ago when facing criminal charges – portraying herself as a victim of persecution and an opposition figure,” Azarov said. “She is not in opposition. For all these years she has consistently voted for all the bills proposed by Zelensky.”
The court ordered a $760,000 bail and banned Timoshenko from leaving Kiev or contacting several dozen MPs it deemed relevant for the case.
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