KIEV, Ukraine - A Ukrainian court on Monday rejected lawyers' request to free former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko during her abuse of office trial.
Tymoshenko was arrested Friday for contempt of court and violation of procedures. She has been on trial since late June, accused of abusing her powers in signing a natural gas deal with Russia in 2009 that prosecutors claim was disadvantageous to Ukraine.
Tymoshenko, Ukraine's top opposition leader, has criticized the trial as an attempt by President Viktor Yanukovych to bar her from future elections, and has refused to rise when addressing the court and routinely insulted the judge.
Yanukovych, Ukraine's Kremlin-friendly president, has been accused by opposition activists and rights groups of trying to sideline his political opponents and muzzle critical media in a rollback on freedoms championed by his pro-Western predecessor.
The court has banned cameras from the trial, but some media broadcast footage of Tymoshenko in the courtroom apparently made by a cell phone. She appeared energetic and determined, thanking the West and Russia for their support.
The U.S. and EU have condemned cases against Tymoshenko as selective justice, and Russia's Foreign Ministry has said the 2009 gas deal did not break any Russian or international laws.
The judge on Monday turned down two defense appeals for Tymoshenko's release as hundreds of her supporters protested outside. Her husband told reporters that Tymoshenko, a nonsmoker, was feeling OK but suffering badly because one of her cellmates smokes.
Several hundred Tymoshenko's supporters gathered outside the court, opposite a similar number of Yanukovych supporters waving his party's blue and white flags.
Tymoshenko insists she is innocent, arguing that the 2009 deal ended weeks of natural gas disruptions to Ukrainian and European consumers and that she was authorized to sign the deal as prime minister.
Many observers in Ukraine and abroad believe real motive for Tymoshenko's trial is to disqualify her from upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections by convicting her as a felon.
