KHARKIV, Ukraine -- A group of young Ukrainians has staged a performance mocking jailed ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in front of the labor camp in eastern Ukraine where she is being held, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.
The Young Regions group said its performance of "The Narration About Golden Gas for Ukrainian People" on January 17 was dedicated to the third anniversary of the 2009 Ukrainian-Russian agreements on gas supplies which Tymoshenko signed on behalf of Ukraine.
Young Regions positions itself as a youth wing of the ruling Party of Regions led by President Viktor Yanukovych and it blames Tymoshenko for signing a disadvantageous deal with Moscow.
Tymoshenko, 51, was jailed in October for seven years for exceeding her authority in brokering that gas deal with Russia. She served as prime minister in 2005 and from 2007 to 2010.
Tymoshenko unsuccessfully ran for president against Yanukovych in 2010. She and her supporters say the case against her is politically motivated.
Tymoshenko was brought to the Kachaniv labor camp outside of Kharkiv more than two weeks ago from a detention center in Kyiv.
A Kharkiv court ruled on January 6 that tents used by Tymoshenko supporters staging a protest near the labor camp were not permitted and city sanitation workers dismantled them on January 10.
The Kharkiv City Council stated on its website the same day that the tents had been removed "legally and in accordance with the court's decision."
On January 11, Kharkiv authorities fenced off the protest location where the tents had been set up.
Maintenance workers said they must make sewage-system repairs to the site.
Read more in Ukrainian here
The Young Regions group said its performance of "The Narration About Golden Gas for Ukrainian People" on January 17 was dedicated to the third anniversary of the 2009 Ukrainian-Russian agreements on gas supplies which Tymoshenko signed on behalf of Ukraine.
Young Regions positions itself as a youth wing of the ruling Party of Regions led by President Viktor Yanukovych and it blames Tymoshenko for signing a disadvantageous deal with Moscow.
Tymoshenko, 51, was jailed in October for seven years for exceeding her authority in brokering that gas deal with Russia. She served as prime minister in 2005 and from 2007 to 2010.
Tymoshenko unsuccessfully ran for president against Yanukovych in 2010. She and her supporters say the case against her is politically motivated.
Tymoshenko was brought to the Kachaniv labor camp outside of Kharkiv more than two weeks ago from a detention center in Kyiv.
A Kharkiv court ruled on January 6 that tents used by Tymoshenko supporters staging a protest near the labor camp were not permitted and city sanitation workers dismantled them on January 10.
The Kharkiv City Council stated on its website the same day that the tents had been removed "legally and in accordance with the court's decision."
On January 11, Kharkiv authorities fenced off the protest location where the tents had been set up.
Maintenance workers said they must make sewage-system repairs to the site.
Read more in Ukrainian here
