Ukraine probes Tymoshenko lawyer as EU uncertainty deepens
Kiev (AFP) - The lawyer of imprisoned Ukrainian ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko was to appear in court Tuesday in a domestic violence case that the opposition denounced as a bid to torpedo the signing of a key deal with the European Union.
Prosecutors said Monday they suspected Sergiy Vlasenko of beating his ex-wife when they were still married in 2010, and the Pechersky district court is expected to set the bail amount for him at a hearing.
The case is the latest twist that could hit the prospects of Ukraine signing an Association Agreement with the European Union at a summit at the end of November, a deal whose chances seemed high just weeks ago but which has now been plunged into uncertainty.
The Ukrainian parliament is expected on Wednesday to debate changes to legislation that would allow Tymoshenko to have treatment in Germany and thus remove a key obstacle to signing the EU deal.
But the debates have been mired in disputes between the ruling Regions Party of President Viktor Yanukovych and the opposition, and Wednesday's emergency session is seen as a last chance to agree a bill.
"The authorities are realising the scenario of rupturing the Association Agreement," said opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk. "We are giving our votes for European integration. The Regions Party is not doing this."
Vlasenko denounced the case against him as a "total lie which has nothing to do with reality" and accused the authorities of "not ceasing political repression" ahead of the crucial summit.
He told reporters outside court that he would likely have to sign a pledge not to leave Kiev during the investigation -- which would prevent him visiting his client who is currently in hospital in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
The case also comes as the European Parliament's two special envoys, Poland's former president Aleksander Kwasniewski and former European Parliament president Pat Cox, were again expected on Kiev on Tuesday to give Ukraine a final chance to show it has made progress.
Kwasniewski and Cox are to deliver a final report to the European Parliament on the issue this week. The document will then be discussed by EU foreign ministers meeting on November 18.
The ministers will assess whether Kiev will be ready to sign the agreement at the EU's Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius on November 28-29.
Signing the Association Agreement -- a free trade deal which is the first step towards EU membership -- has been held up by the 2011 jailing of Tymoshenko on contested abuse of power charges she says were ordered as political revenge by Yanukovych.
