Tymoshenko on Trial

The former Prime Minister of Ukraine and the “princess” of the 2005 Orange Revolution in Ukraine has now been put on trial for abusing of office in signing a gas deal with Russia in 2009. Much of the western press has declared the actions of Vicktor Yankovich as an unjust persecution and drew the tag team rebuke of Russia who views the charges as an indirect attack on Prime Minister Putin, who signed the deal and the European Union who benefited from the deal. Source: http://www.economist.com/node/21525974

It’s hard to escape what President Yankovich would gain from convicting Ms. Tymoshenko in preventing her from running for the presidency against him again. By eliminating a key rival, conventional wisdom would dictate a potentially easier road to the presidency. High praise for someone with a criminal background. The whole thing sounds north of ridiculous.

It’s described by CSM as "collusion with Vladimir Putin in striking a bargain that was detrimental to her countries interests." Logically, why would she cut a deal with Putin what was exactly “in it” for her, if not national interest? Furthermore, Russia-Ukraine relations weren’t exactly sterling when Tymoshenko was PM. The Orange Revolution unseated the Kremlin-popular Leonid Kuchma, why would the Kremlin want to aid Tymoshenko so much, unless they engineered the whole thing to facilitate her fall from power…Oh great, not another Russian conspiracy theory.