Ousted politician tossed from courtroom

MOSCOW – The abuse of power trial of former Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko slid into chaos Wednesday when the Western-leaning politician was tossed from a Kiev courtroom after calling the judge a “monster” and the prosecution a “farce.”

The former princess of the so-called 2004 “Orange Revolution” that loosened Ukraine’s ties to Russia is also under investigation, government officials said, on possible charges of high treason and the alleged attempted embezzlement of $405 million while she and her colleagues were in power. Tymoshenko was ousted by the Ukrainian parliament last year after President Viktor Yanukovich, a bitter rival long viewed as close to Russia, took office.

Ironically, the current case, in which Tymoshenko, 50, faces up to 10 years in prison, involves the 2009 sale of natural gas at allegedly favorable prices to Russia.

The prosecution, Tymoshenko says, is nothing more than an act of political vengeance by her opponents.

She loudly made her feelings known Wednesday when she refused to stand up in court before Judge Rodion Kireyev, and termed the proceedings “a farce trial.”

The judge banned live television coverage of witness’s testimony, leading Tymoshenko to protest: “They need to do it in silence without witnesses … pass a verdict within 2.5 minutes and preferably execute (me) at once.”

Later in the day, the judge summoned a police convoy to eject party colleagues of Tymoshenko and several journalists in attendance. “You are a monster,” she then told the judge. “You set the police on the unarmed people.”

The judge then called the police again to escort her out of the courtroom for a day.