“Experts in Ukraine and abroad believe the trial’s real motive is to disqualify Tymoshenko from upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections by convicting her as a felon.

“Tymoshenko was nicknamed Ukraine’s ‘gas princess’ in the late 1990s for serving as the head of a leading natural gas importer. She was jailed briefly in 2001 on suspicion of smuggling gas, but the case never went to trial.

“Tymoshenko has a long and bitter history with Yanukovych.

“She was the central figure in Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution mass protests that threw out Yanukovych’s fraud-tainted victory in a presidential election and led to another vote that brought a pro-Western government to power.”

Yulia Tymoshenko Arrested: Ukraine’s Ex-Prime Minister Picked Up During Trial

This action is so blatantly an act of revenge that I wonder why the Ukrainians don’t rise up again. If they don’t, they’re going to end up exactly where they were before the Orange Revolution.

Its the democratic story, people.  Its the struggle for a brand new democracy, its important.

“The European Union was quick to condemn the verdict as politically motivated and urged the Ukrainian authorities to ensure a transparent and fair appeals process for Tymoshenko. A failure to do so would have “profound implications” for Ukraine-EU relations and could jeopardize the conclusion of a landmark association agreement, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement.”

Daily News: Ex-Ukranian Prime Minister, Tymoshenko, gets 7 years in prison for abuse of office