Tymoshenko´s husband gets no "political asylum" - Czech embassy

Kiev - Oleksandr Tymoshenko, husband of imprisoned former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, has not received "political asylum" in the Czech Republic but his asylum is a form of international protection and its reasons may not be political, the Czech embassy in Kiev said today.

The embassy issued an official statement "in reaction to a number of inquiries by the public."

Oleksandr Tymoshenko was granted Czech asylum last week. Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas stressed immediately afterwards that the assessment of asylum applications is not based on political criteria in the Czech Republic.

This statement obviously reacts to comments by Kiev press and some Ukrainian representatives who said Tymoshenko received "a political asylum" although he has never been politically active. Ukrainian observers speculate that his emigration was motivated personally and commercially rather than politically.

Oleksandr Tymoshenko is one of the owners of the International Industrial Projects company, seated in the Czech Republic.

The Ukrainian regime claims that he allegedly wanted to hide money his wife had received from "political sponsors" abroad.

The embassy said the Czech Republic does not grant "political asylum." Persons applying for asylum may have various reasons that do not have to be political and the applicant does not have to be politically active, the embassy pointed out.

The embassy recalls that the Czech government has no say on asylum applications and that it has not discussed Tymoshenko´s case either.

The Czech Republic has no relation to public statements and private or professional activities of persons who were granted a Czech asylum, the embassy says.

Oleksandr Tymoshenko told Radio Liberty's Ukrainian broadcasting on Monday that he applied for Czech asylum because of the enormous pressure by the current Ukrainian regime against which he will take political action.

Yulia Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison in Ukraine last October in a trial that the domestic opposition and the West criticised as politically motivated.

President Viktor Yanukovich's party and Yulia Tymoshenko's opposition bloc is to fight in the Ukrainian parliamentary elections that will be held in the autumn. Yulia Tymoshenko cannot take part in the elections due to the verdict against her. Some observers believe that this was the main reason behind her trial.

In 2011, Prague granted asylum to Bohdan Danylyshyn, former minister in Tymoshenko's previous government. Shortly afterwards Kiev expelled two employees of the Czech embassy's military section on suspicion of alleged espionage.

Last December, Necas and his Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Azarov met in Prague. They agreed that the Czech Republic and Ukraine had overcome a problematic period in bilateral relations and they also signed three intergovernmental treaties and supported further economic cooperation.

Pavel Masa, former Czech ambassador to Kiev, told the Ukrainian broadcasting of Deutsche Welle radio he believes that the asylum granted to Tymoshenko´s husband will have immediate negative impact on Czech-Ukrainian relations, especially in business. Author: CTK
http://www.ctk.cz/

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