Clinton relays support for Tymoshenko

Washington continues to advocate for the release of Yulia Tymoshenko, the U.S. secretary of state said in a letter to Ukraine's jailed opposition leader. Tymoshenko is serving a seven-year prison sentence in a penal colony in Ukraine on charges she abused her authority in a 2009 natural gas deal with Russia's Gazprom. Her husband was granted political asylum recently by the Czech Republic out of growing fears the pro-Kremlin government in Kiev was targeting members of her family. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a letter to the jailed opposition leader, said Washington remains her steadfast ally. "We will continue to advocate for judicial due process and the release of you and the other imprisoned former senior government officials as a critical step in that process," Tymoshenko's Web site quoted the letter as reading. The European Union had said it was wary about Kiev's commitments to the rule of law last year during meetings with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Kiev has tried moving closer to the European Union. Tymoshenko lost a bruising political battle to Yanukovych during 2010 presidential elections.