Jailed Former Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko May Be Released

Parliament voted

As a bloody week of street protests in Ukraine draws to a close, President Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leaders have signed a deal, and the parliament has voted on a series of measures that curb Yanukovych's power. One of the resolutions changes a law in a way that could lead to the release of Yulia Tymoshenko.

Tymoshenko is a former two-term prime minister and founder of the Fatherland Party, the largest opposition party in Ukraine. She was sentenced to seven years in prison in August 2011 over an expensive natural gas deal she signed with Russia. Supporters have called her conviction politically motivated, and the European Union had demanded that she be released. Her picture was displayed prominently in Independence Square, the focal point of protests in Kiev.