We, the undersigned, declare the following:
We are concerned about the ongoing violations in the case against the former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko. Law enforcement agencies searched her party office without a court order. Contrary to the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, they did not invite her during post-factum legalisation of this operation in court.
Later, law enforcement agencies published a tape of an alleged conversation between Tymoshenko and a member of the Ukrainian parliament, in which they discuss parliamentary activities. Tymoshenko claimed that the conversation had been edited.
It is worrying that throughout the entire investigation, Ms. Tymoshenko was not even questioned.
Of particular concern is the fact that, after the end of the pre-trial investigation stage, Tymoshenko's defence team did not receive access to essentially the only evidence – the original audio file of the conversation. This creates a risk of violation of the basic principle of criminal proceedings – the equality of parties in adversarial proceedings. This calls into question the impartiality and legality of the entire investigation.
In order to avoid any speculation, we call for Tymoshenko's defence team to be given access to the original audio file and to conduct its independent investigation. We will continue to monitor the progress of this case.