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Verdict due in Ukraine's Tymoshenko trial Ukraine judge rules ex-PM Tymoshenko exceeded powers
(about 6 hours later)
A court is due to give its verdict in the trial of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. A judge has ruled that former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko did exceed her powers when she signed a gas deal with Russia in 2009.
Mrs Tymoshenko is charged with abuse of office, but insists she is the victim of a vendetta by Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych. The verdict is still being read but its meaning is not fully clear. Prosecutors are seeking a seven-year jail sentence.
Prosecutors have asked for her to be jailed for seven years over a 2009 gas deal with Russia. Mrs Tymoshenko said the charges against her were politically motivated and vowed to fight for Ukrainian democracy "till her last breath".
Mrs Tymoshenko's party has called for thousands of her supporters to protest outside the court in Kiev. Riot police are outside the court as supporters and opponents gather.
The former Orange Revolution leader has been in custody for contempt of court since 5 August. There have been minor scuffles but no major clashes, the AFP news agency reports from the scene.
Judge Rodion Kireyev retired to consider the verdict in late September after a three-month trial. The US and the EU have condemned the charges against Mrs Tymoshenko and some of her allies as selective prosecution of political opponents.
Although he set 11 October as the date for the verdict, correspondents say he could push back the date or take several days to read out the verdict. However, former president and one-time ally Viktor Yushchenko and others have testified against her.
The US and EU have voiced concern over the legitimacy of the trial. Russia pipes gas to western Europe across Ukrainian territory and relations between the two ex-Soviet states have long been dogged by disputes over transit fees and unpaid bills.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Monday the bloc was "not very optimistic" about what appears to be an "application of selective justice". 'Not very optimistic'
Speaking after an EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg, she said the EU would continue to negotiate details of a proposed free trade deal with Ukraine, but added "there is also a political process" that can affect the talks. The former Orange Revolution leader is accused of exceeding her authority while negotiating the gas agreement with Russia in 2009, which critics say was to Ukraine's disadvantage.
Mrs Tymoshenko's Batkivshschyna party called for protests outside the court on Tuesday. Mrs Tymoshenko - who has been in custody for contempt of court since 5 August - denies any wrongdoing.
"The fate of Ukrainian democracy is at stake," it said in a statement. "Either we are going to be free people in our own country or Yanukovych will turn Ukraine into a totalitarian criminal ghetto." Arriving at Pechersky court in the capital, Kiev, before the verdict, Mrs Tymoshenko said: "You know very well that the sentence is not being pronounced by judge [Rodion] Kireyev but by President [Viktor] Yanukovych.
Party deputy leader Oleksander Turchinov said he hoped to see "many thousands of patriots tomorrow". "Whatever the sentence pronounced, my struggle will continue. This sentence, written by Yanukovych, will not change anything in my life or in my struggle."
"They have no legal grounds for announcing anything other than a not-guilty verdict for Tymoshenko. When they cross that border, we will react accordingly," he said. Judge Kireyev retired to consider the verdict in late September after a three-month trial.
President Yanukovych defeated Mrs Tymoshenko at the 2010 presidential election. Shortly after he beginning to read his verdict, the judge said Mrs Tymoshenko exceeded her powers in brokering the gas deal, but did not say if this meant she was guilty or would be sentenced.
She is accused of exceeding her authority while negotiating the gas agreement with Russia, which critics say was to Ukraine's disadvantage. She denies any wrongdoing. He is continuing with his summing up, which correspondents say could take some hours.
During a break in the proceedings, Mrs Tymoshenko made a statement to journalists, saying human rights organisation the Helsinki Group had declared the charges politically motivated.
She said that "no-one can besmirch my honest name".
She compared the state of the country to the Soviet Union in 1937, the height of Stalinist repression.