Former Ukrainian PM jailed for 7 years

FORMER Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko was jailed for seven years in a trial widely condemned in the West as politically motivated.

Tymoshenko, the country’s top opposition leader, was also banned from holding government posts for three years after the end of her sentence and fined 1.5 billion hryvna (€137m) in damages to the state.

Tymoshenko remained calm, but did not wait for the judge to finish reading the lengthy ruling, standing up from her seat and addressing reporters in the courtroom as he spoke.