Supporters of former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Saturday started an indefinite sit-in to protest her detention as European capitals expressed concern over her dramatic arrest.
A Kiev court Friday placed the glamorous Tymoshenko under arrest for contempt of court in her ongoing trial on charges of abuse of power, which she claims is a vendetta pursued by her rival, President Viktor Yanukovych. In extraordinary scenes, the opposition leader was driven through central Kiev’s Kreshchatyk avenue in a prison van surrounded by hundreds of police to the Lukyanovsky detention centre in Kiev where she spent the night. At least 100 supporters, including parliament deputies, have now pitched a line of some 30 tents on Kreshchatyk avenue near the courthouse and vowed to maintain their sit-in until Tymoshenko is released.
