A large portrait of Yulia Tymoshenko was hung today on the façade of a building in Rome’s Capitoline Hill as a sign of solidarity and support for the unjustly imprisoned Ukrainian opposition leader, according to an Official web site of Yulia Tymoshenko.
The action was approved by the Roman authorities, taking into account the political situation in Ukraine. Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno expressed solidarity with Yulia Tymoshenko. "I will call on other mayors of EU capitals to support Rome’s initiative," she said.
The resolution of the mayor’s office notes the political motives behind the conviction of the Ukrainian ex-premier. "On October 11, 2011, Yulia Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison because in January 2009 she signed energy deals with Russia," the document says.
The Italian capital has expressed similar support in the past for the Italian judges who were assassinated by the Mafia – Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, Italian Rossella Urru who was kidnapped by terrorists in Algiers, and Burmese opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
The ceremony was attended by Ukrainians living in Italy, along with Batkivshchyna Party members Mykola Tomenko and Arsen Avakov.
