Yulia Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison last year in a trial the Ukrainian opposition and the West call politically motivated. Her husband has never been politically active.
The Interior Ministry that is in charge of such applications has not commented on the case.
The application for the asylum is motivated by the effort to lessen the pressure of the Ukrainian regime on Tymoshenko and her family, the opposition Fatherland" party, headed by her, said in a press release today.
As Yulia Tymoshenko has not been broken with the help of courts by imprisonment, humiliation and double punishment, the regime that has illegally reopened the cases closed 15 years ago by the Supreme Court has started persecuting her family members, it added.
Tymoshenko himself said through his wife's lawyer that he would not comment on the application.
Schwarzenberg said he had discussed the case with Interior Minister Jan Kubice.
"It is obvious from the conversation that the Interior Ministry has decided to grant the asylum," Schwarzenberg said.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has not commented on the case either.
Tymoshenko has turned to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. If it supports her complaint about unfair trial, the Ukrainian Supreme Court most probably have to deal with the case.
In 2000, Oleksandr Tymoshenko was taken into custody over corruption and embezzlement charges, but they were eventually withdrawn.
According to the Czech register of companies, Oleksandr Tymoshenko is partner in the firm International Industrial Projects.
Along with his wife and father Hennadiy, Oleksandr Tymoshenko headed the United Energy Systems of Ukraine (JESU) that had the monopoly position for the distribution of Russian gas in Ukraine in the 1990s.
Yulia Tymoshenko was accused last autumn that when managing the JESU, she illegally transferred its debt to the state budget, causing a damage of hundreds of millions to the state coffers.
The Ukrainian paper Fokus wrote today that Oleksandr Tymoshenko was very likely to be granted the asylum in the Czech Republic since he is a co-owner of a company registered in the Czech Republic.
According to the register of companies, Oleksandr Tymoshenko has a one-third share in the company seated in Usti nad Labem, north Bohemia.
"It is not clear whether he has been granted it. We do not do this," Schwarzenberg, now abroad, has told CTK on behalf of the Foreign Ministry.
He said he had been informed about the application with which Tymoshenko, 51, turned to Czech authorities.
Schwarzenberg refused to speculate about whether the granting of asylum would affect Czech-Ukrainian relations.
Last year, Yulia Tymoshenko was punished for signing, in her capacity as prime minister, gas supply contracts with Russia that the court found disadvantageous for Kiev.
Pravo writes that Oleksandr Tymoshenko, has never been active in politics or public life. Only little is known about him in Ukraine.
Referring to its own sources, Pravo writes that Oleksandr Tymoshenko is very likely to be granted the asylum.
It says the case is almost certain to cool down the relations with Kiev as it did in the case of Bohdan Danylyshyn, former economy minister in Yulia Tymoshenko's cabinet, whom the Czech Republic granted asylum a year ago.
In May 2011, Ukraine expelled two Czech military attaches over alleged espionage, and Prague reacted by doing the same, Pravo recalls.
On the other hand, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov visited the Czech Republic in late 2011. After meeting him in Prague, Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said the Czech Republic and Ukraine had overcome a period of problems following the scandal [with mutual expulsion of attaches], Pravo writes.
1997 - Political asylum is granted to Professor Sadai Nazarov, an aide to the former Azeri prime minister Surat Huseynov. Due to the persecution by the regime of President Heydar Aliyev he was forced to leave Azerbaijan.
November 2001 - Uzbek opposition politician Muhammad Salih asks for asylum in the Czech Republic. He was sentenced to 15.5 years in prison for alleged involvement in a terrorist attack in absentia. He fled the regime of President Islam Karimov and then gained asylum in Norway.
He arrived in the Czech Republic at the invitation of the radio station Free Europe, but the police detained him as he was internationally wanted by Interpol.
Salih asked for asylum after the Prague Municipal Court took him into extradition custody. He eventually withdrew his application, the court decided not to extradite him to Uzbekistan and Salih left for Norway.
November 2010 - Former Ukrainian economy minister Bohdan Danylyshyn asks for asylum in the Czech Republic. The Czech police arrested Danylyshyn on the basis of a Ukrainian arrest warrant and he was taken into custody.
Danylyshyn faced abuse of power charges over acquisition of state orders in Ukraine. In January 2011, Danylysyn was granted political asylum and in February, Prague Municipal Court ruled that he would not be extradited to Ukraine.
March 2011 - Ales Mikhalevich, Belarusian opposition candidate for president, is granted asylum in the Czech Republic. In 2010, Mikhalevich was an unsuccessful candidate against President Alexander Lukashenko in presidential elections and he was persecuted in Belarus.
January 2012 - Oleksandr Tymoshenko, husband of jailed former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, asked for asylum late last year, Czech daily Pravo has written.
Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison last year in a trial the Ukrainian opposition and the West call politically motivated. Her husband has never been politically active.
Author: CTKwww.ctk.cz
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