UHHRU was informed of this by the Head of the Pardoning Department within the President’s Administration, I. Kozlov. The arguments given included the level of seriousness of the offence committed, as well as the fact that she had not served a large part of the sentence imposed.  The full response to UHHRU’s appeal is given here: (pdf-file).

As reported, on 10 April 2013 UHHRU addressed an appeal to Ukraine’s President asking him to pardon Yulia Tymoshenko.  The letter stated that: “Bearing in mind that in the case over which Yulia Tymoshenko is serving her sentence, all procedural moves have been completed, and in view of your position, Mr President, regarding the need to humanize the system for serving sentences, and also taking into account European human rights standards which require the provision of effective medical care to people held in places of confinement, we would ask you to pardon Yulia Tymoshenko and to free her on the basis of Article 85 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code.”