Ukraine: Tymoshenko on Trial in Kiev for Abuse of Power

  Ukraine's former prime minister and heroine of the 2004 Orange Revolution Yulia Tymoshenko has gone on trial in Kiev for abuse of power.  Ms Tymoshenko has dismissed the charges, which concern natural gas contracts with Russia, as revenge by her rival, President Viktor Yanukovych. She lost the premiership in March 2010 following a vote of no confidence.

Ms Tymoshenko has asked the European Court of Human Rights to decide if the charges are politically motivated. About 1,000 of her supporters gathered outside the court in Kiev, which was ringed by police, the AFP news agency reports.  "This is a farce and circus and not a court hearing," Ms Tymoshenko told the judge, according to AFP.

Investigators say a 10-year gas contract agreed with Russia in January 2009 was ruinous for the Ukrainian economy and that Ms Tymoshenko did not have cabinet approval to sign it. The charges are not the first to be brought against the former prime minister. In December, she was charged with misusing 320m euros (£270m; $425m) received by the government in 2009 for the sale of carbon credits.