Arsen Avakov, former Governor of the Kharkiv Region, head of the Kharkiv regional branch of the Batkivshchyna Party (Tymoshenko’s party) and mayoral candidate in the seriously flawed 2010 elections has been placed on the international wanted list

The Pechersky District Court in Kyiv has sent a statement from former Internal Affairs Minister Yury Lutsenko regarding alleged falsification of two witnesses’ protocols to the Prosecutor General’s Office.

A ruling from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in the suit lodged by former Internal Affairs Minister Yury Lutsenko against the Prosecutor General and several of his subordinates, will not be recognized in Ukraine, but is important nonetheless, Lutsenko’s defence lawyer says.

The Pechersky District Court in Kyiv under presiding judge Serhiy Vovk on Monday refused to release former Internal Affairs Minister Yury Lutsenko from custody despite the 26 January Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Resolution

Marietta de Purba-Lundin, Co-Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Ukraine has explained the reasons for the clearly articulated warning of sanction if political prisoners are not freed

On Friday Judge Serhiy Vovk showed no sign of concern over the clear calls from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to put an end to the serious violations of Yury Lutsenko’s right to liberty and a fair trial, completing the questioning stage with 50 people’s testimony simply read out

The Ukrainian PEN Centre calls on the authorities to stop political persecution in Ukraine, restrictions on freedom of speech and interference in literary and artistic activities. We call on Ukrainian writers and artists, as well as our colleagues overseas to join their voices to our protest.

Despite objections from former Acting Defence Minister Ivashchenko and his defence, Judge Serhiy Vovk simply read out testimony of witnesses given during the pre-trial investigation (just as he insisted on doing the previous day in the trial of former Internal Affairs Minister Yury Lutsenko)

In another extraordinary move given the number of witnesses in the Lutsenko trial who have accused the investigators and / or Prosecutor of pressure or distortion of their words, Judge Serhiy Vovk decided to read out testimony of 30 people supposedly unable to attend the hearings

Former Acting Defence Minister in Yulia Tymoshenko’s government, Valery Ivashchenko is outraged that the Prosecutors have doctors’ assessments of his state of health that neither he nor his lawyers have been given

Dmytro Loban, the State Prosecutor asserted at a press briefing that the former Internal Affairs Minister had “refused” to go to court; that the Penitentiary Service medical staff saw no grounds and that it was the defence’s fault that he had been in court for 15 hours the day before until 23.30

The trial of former Internal Affairs Minister Yury Lutsenko reached new depths of cynical disregard for the defendant’s rights on Thursday. With the court clearly under instructions to move fast, judge Serhiy Vovk rejected applications for the court’s adjournment on the grounds of Yury Lutsenko’s health.

“I ask myself how, if the court system sees fit to treat Lutsenko, Tymoshenko, Ivashchenko and people of such a level so severely and brutally, what is it like for those who can’t attract the media and public’s attention, who don’t have the money for proper defence in court?”

France’s Human Rights Ambassador Francois Zimeray has been refused permission to meet with former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is being held in the Kachanivska Penal Colony in Kharkiv

One "witness" was there to give her assessment of the difference between "ceremonious" and "festive" - on the basis of a dictionary not particular events

On Tuesday Presiding Judge Serhiy Vovk cancelled examination of another case fuelling suspicions that now that Tymoshenko’s trial is over, there is pressure to finish Lutsenko’s as soon as possible.

Yury Lutsenko is convinced that, having dealt with Tymoshenko, those in power now want to finish with his case as quickly as possible. And that the fact that most witnesses have testified in his favour does not mean a favourable outcome

Another witness has poured scorn on the charge against Yury Lutsenko, former Internal Affairs Minister and leader of the opposition People’s Self Defence Party related to alleged squandering of public funding

During the hearing it transpired that one of the witnesses, the former Head of Oleksy Pukach, the police general charged over the killing of Georgy Gongadze, had unlawfully kept secret information in his home

The family of former Acting Defence Minister in Yulia Tymoshenko’s government, Valery Ivashchenko has issued a statement in which it calls on the Ukrainian public and international community to intervene and prevent Mr Ivashchenko’s physical destruction