Ukraine High court upholds conviction of former Prime Minister

Ukraine’s highest court has upheld the conviction of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko for abuse of office, a case that has strained the former Soviet state’s ties with the West.

Tymoshenko was an architect of Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution that promoted democracy and unsuccessfully ran for president in 2010.

She was sentenced to seven years in prison in October 2011, when she was found guilty of exceeding her powers while negotiating a gas contract with Russia while she was prime minister. Emma Murphy reports: