Jailed leader’s husband gains political asylum

The husband of Ukraine’s jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko has said “enormous pressure” and persecution by president Viktor Yanukovich’s government forced him to flee to the Czech Republic.

Oleksander Tymoshenko, 51, who was granted political asylum in the Czech Republic last week, said yesterday that by fleeing abroad he had deprived Mr Yanukovich of additional leverage over the opposition.

He said: “The regime in Ukraine has not shied away from using dirty methods. They were not able to break Yulia Tymoshenko either through intimidation, the courts, imprisonment or torture. So they resorted to even uglier means. They began to persecute me and other members of her family.

“I do not want to provide Yanukovich with any additional leverage against the opposition and for me political asylum is the only way to achieve this.”

Mr Tymoshenko, who is part-owner of a business registered in the Czech Republic, kept a low profile during his wife’s rollercoaster political career.

Yulia Tymoshenko helped lead the 2004 Orange Revolution street protests which thwarted a first bid for the presidency by Mr Yanukovich.