Court Sentence Ukraine Ex-Prime Minister To 7 Years Jail Term

[emezico]

A Ukrainian court on Tuesday sentenced former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to seven years in prison for abuse of office in relation to a 2009 gas deal with Russia.

Tymoshenko is said to have brokered the deal.

"The court has found Tymoshenko guilty and sentenced her to a prison term of seven years," the judge, Rodion Kireyev, said.

Kireyev handed down the sentence, the maximum sought by state prosecutors in a lengthy judgment at the end of a three-month trial which has polarised society in the ex-Soviet republic and risks jeopardising relations with the West.

The European Union, a big trading partner for Ukraine, has warned that jailing the charismatic opposition leader will put at risk ratification of an association agreement due to be signed later this year.