Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group
Groupe d’amitié parlementaire Canada-Ukraine
News Release – October 13th, 2011
Sopuck Unsettled by Conviction of Yulia Tymoshenko
Ottawa – Chair of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship group and Member of Parliament for Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette issued the following statements in response to the conviction of Ukraine’s opposition leader and former Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko.
“On behalf of my colleagues of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship group, I am deeply concerned with the manner in which the arrest, prosecution and conviction of Yulia Tymoshenko were carried out by Ukrainian authorities.”
This statement comes after both Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird and Robert Sopuck released several statements expressing concern in the early stages of the trial.
Yesterday, after a lengthy court case extensively condemned by western countries, Yulia Tymoshenko was sentenced to 7 years in prison for charges of abuse of office.
“The apparent political bias and prosecution in this case hinders Ukraine’s ability to exercise a healthy democracy. There is concern that the court proceedings fall far short of internationally recognized norms of fairness, transparency and due process.”
“I once again urge, on behalf of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship group, that the Ukraine strengthens judicial independence and capacity.”
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For more information or to book a media interview, please contact:
Brett Carlson, assistant to Robert Sopuck @ 613-992-3176
