MOSCOW, Aug 5 (KUNA) -- The former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko was detained on Friday during her trial on charges of disrupting courtroom order, the Russian news agency, the Interfax, reported.
Prosecutors ordered that the ex-prime minister be escorted to prison for defying judicial procedures and insulting the judges during the proceedings in the case against her, based on charges of illegally forcing the state energy company, Naftogaz, to sign a gas contract with Russia in 2009.
Tymoshenko, who had served as prime minister, has accused the authorities of politicizing the prosecution and clamping down on the opposition party.
She was reportedly escorted from the courthouse after Judge Rodion Kireyev approved a state prosecutor's motion to take her into custody over "systemic violations" of rules. Tymoshenko, who twice served as prime minister between 2005 and 2010, says the case against her is politically motivated and has been fabricated. (end) as.rk KUNA 052050 Aug 11NNNN