Ukraine: Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko released

ITAR-Tass news agency reported on February 22 that former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was released from Kharkov prison..

Hours earlier, the Ukrainian parliament overwhelmingly voted to release opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who led the country's 2004 Orange Revolution, from prison.

Ms. Yulia Tymoshenko after voting at a polling station in Dnipropetrovsk, February 2010. (Source: AFP/TTXVN)

The motion to "immediately release Ms. Tymoshenko based on the decision of the European Court of Human Rights" received the support of 322 out of 331 MPs registered to attend the session on February 22.

A motion in favor of speeding up the procedures to release Ms. Tymoshenko without the president's approval.

Ms Tymoshenko is an opponent of President Viktor Yanukovych. Her arrest in 2011 and conviction for abuse of office were widely seen as political retaliation.

Also on February 22, Ms. Tymoshenko's close ally, Mr. Oleksander Turchynov, was elected as Chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, after his predecessor Volodymyr Rybak resigned due to health reasons.

Mr. Turchynov, 49 years old, served as First Deputy Prime Minister in Ms. Tymoshenko's government during the 2007-2010 period./.

According to VNA