Ukrainian parliamentarians reject ex-PM Tymoshenko release bid

PanARMENIAN.Net - Ukrainian MPs have rejected a bill that would have allowed the release of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, dealing a blow to Kiev's hopes of a trade deal with the EU, BBC News reported.

They threw out six drafts of the bill which would have allowed Tymoshenko to travel abroad for medical treatment.

The bill failed to pass after MPs from President Viktor Yanukovych's ruling Regions Party refused to cast their votes on any of the six proposed drafts.

"It is President Viktor Yanukovych who is personally blocking Ukraine's movement toward the European Union," Arseniy Yatsenyuk, parliamentary leader of Tymoshenko's opposition Fatherland group, told parliament after the vote failed.

The drafts all fell short of the 226 votes needed.

Opposition MPs responded by shouting "shame" as the bill was thrown out. The legislation was put forward on the treatment of convicts abroad.