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Jailed Former Ukrainian PM Tymoshenko Calls Off Hunger Strike


A screen capture of Yulia Tymoshenko from a late-September video.
A screen capture of Yulia Tymoshenko from a late-September video.
Ukraine's jailed former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, has ended a hunger strike she began 18 days ago to protest alleged electoral fraud.

Tymoshenko said international monitors' negative assessment of the October 28 elections had proven her right.

She said in a statement that she would continue her fight against President Viktor Yanukovych by other means.

Tymoshenko, a leader of the 2004 Orange Revolution that initially deprived Yanukovych of the presidency following a fraudulent election, is serving a seven-year prison sentence for abuse of power following her conviction in October 2011.

Tymoshenko and her supporters say the charges are politically motivated.

The European Union and the United States have condemned her jailing as selective justice.

She also faces trial for tax evasion and embezzlement, and prosecutors have suggested they intend to indict her for complicity to murder in the 16-year-old case of a slain parliamentarian and his wife.

According to official results from the October election, Yanukovych and his allies will retain control of parliament.

Based on reporting by Reuters and dpa

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