Ukraine's high-stakes trial resumes amid protests

Ukraine braced Monday for street protests and high-stakes court drama as its jailed ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko goes back on trial on charges of abusing authority during her pro-Western rule. One of the former Soviet republic's most flamboyant but divisive figures was jailed during her own trial on Friday for contempt -- a ruling immediately condemned by both European governments and the United States. The 2004 Orange Revolution leader is accused of striking a bad gas deal with Russia in 2009 that allegedly cost the budget 1.5 billion hryvnia ($190 million) and can now be imprisoned for seven to 10 years. But Tymoshenko's supporters and parliament deputies who make up the heavily outnumbered opposition dismiss the charges as a vendetta pursued by President Viktor Yanukovych and his pro-Russian team. The hearing's resumption Monday has been accompanied by opposition threats to launch a week of protests similar to those Tymoshenko and her allies led through the streets of Kiev during the dramatic pro-Western uprising of 2004. Her allies have already managed to pitch about 30 tents in the heart of Kiev and are now engaged in a tense but peaceful standoff with anti-riot police and groups of ruling party supporters. Tymoshenko lost a closely-fought presidential election to Yanukovych last year but has kept her prime position in politics by allying herself more closely with the country's nationalist and Ukrainian speaking forces. She made a point during Friday's hearings to ask for a Russian-to-Ukrainian translator when Prime Minister Mykola Azarov came to testify against her -- a request that led to the prosecution's call for her arrest. A group of her parliamentary supporters and Ukraine's human rights ombudsman were due to formally ask the court to release Tymoshenko when the trial resumes Monday. It was not immediately clear if Tymoshenko herself would appear before the presiding judge after pillorying him during previous sessions and insulting him on her Twitter account. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Nina Karpacheva said through a spokesman that she visited Tymoshenko in her holding cell Sunday and found her in high spirits. "She is upbeat and ready to fight," Interfax-Ukraine quoted the ombudsman's spokesman as saying. Analysts say Ukraine is unlikely to see a repeat of the huge 2004 rallies as Tymoshenko's support base has narrowed following a spell in power that saw bickering and corruption allegations hound the pro-Western team. But the West's angry reaction to her arrest could also spell an end to the current authorities' cautious rapprochement with the European Union. Tymoshenko is formally accused of signing the Russian gas contract without her cabinet's initial approval -- a charge denied by the defence but which many argue should not lead to a lengthy prison sentence even if it true.