Ukraine Parliament rejects release of ex-Premier Tymoshenko

Ukraine's Parliament rejected Tuesday a motion to decriminalize legal charges against jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and release her. During the vote, the proposal, which seeks the abolition of article 365 in the law under which Tymoshenko was convicted for exceeding authority, failed to gain the minimum number of votes. Opposition lawmakers walked out of the Parliament in protest against the position of the majority. Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison on Oct. 11 for exceeding power in a 2009 gas deal with Russia and for squandering public funds.