Tymoshenko's Daughter's Restaurant Seized

Yevhenia Tymoshenko, the daughter of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko (file photo)

KYIV -- A court in Ukraine's eastern city of Dnipropetrovsk has reportedly ruled to seize a restaurant owned by the daughter of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

The deputy chairman of Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party, Oleksandr Turchynov, told reporters on October 29 that Yevhenia Tymoshenko would appeal. No reason was given for the court's ruling, which Turchynov called "political retaliation."

Last week, Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski and Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt met with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, telling him action is "urgently" needed to resolve the Yulia Tymoshenko case, which Brussels believes to be politically motivated.

Irish politician Pat Cox and former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski are due in Kyiv later on October 29 to continue efforts to free Tymoshenko, who is serving seven years for abuse of office. The EU wants her release before Ukraine signs an Association Agreement in Vilnius next month.