Rada green lights arrest of judge Kireyev, responsible for Tymoshenko sentence

Photo: Konstantin Melnitskiy

Verkhovna Rada has permitted the arrest of Kyiv Pechersky District Court judge Rodion Kireyev, who sentenced former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to seven years in jail over the so-called gas case in 2011.

A total of 297 MPs voted for the relative decision on Thursday, a correspondent of Interfax-Ukraine has reported.

"Taking into consideration that judge Kireyev hides from justice, the necessary operational-investigative means to establish his whereabouts came to nothing, prosecutor general is asked to uphold this request," Supreme Court Chairman Yaroslav Romaniuk said at the parliament.

As reported, Kireyev has been placed on the wanted list.

Kireyev, charged with delivering a deliberately unlawful verdict (Part 2, Article 375 of the Criminal Code), disappeared from Kyiv on July 2.

Chairman of the Supreme Court of Ukraine Yaroslav Romaniuk said that the Prosecutor General's Office had submitted documents on Kireyev's detention and arrest to the supreme court.

Tymoshenko was arrested during her trial on August 5, 2011. Kyiv Pechersky District Court found her guilty of abuse of office, over the signing of a gas supply contract with Russia in 2009, and sentenced her to seven years in prison on October 11, 2011. Tymoshenko was released from custody according to a law adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.