To be sure, in most Western democracies, a judge called a "monster" by an accused who also labels her trial a farce and a political stunt, would be swift in making a contempt-of-court finding.

But when such events unfold in the trial in Ukraine of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and when the countries of the West – along with some in the former Eastern bloc – hint at doubts about the validity of the trial, the dimensions are different.

Tymoshenko faces allegations of abuse of power because in 2009, while she was prime minister, she went to Moscow for talks with her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, which ended in a deal to end a standoff over natural gas supplies. That standoff had led to a chilling crisis in the region when natural gas supplies were cut off. But the current government, headed by Viktor Yanukovych, charges that Tymoshenko broke the law by failing to consult her government when signing the deal, an accord which cost Ukraine an extra $190 million, the Voice of America reported.

Tymoshenko holds that her trial is a political manoeuvre intended to block her from standing in next year’s presidential elections, which a guilty verdict would indeed do. She has dubbed the trial judge a stooge of Yanukovych. Her arrest followed her mocking a witness, current prime minister Mykola Azarov, for speaking in court in Russian, rather than Ukrainian.

Among the leading voices on the Tymoshenko issue, which reached a new level of drama on August 5 when she was ordered into the cells for contempt of court – a ruling imposed for the duration of the rest of her trial – has been that of the Obama administration, which has warned Kyiv against "selective justice".

The US message was underlined by a further call a few days later for the Ukrainian authorities to review her arrest and to consider immediately releasing her from custody.

State department spokesperson Mark Toner, quoted by Radio Free Europe, said that Tymoshenko's arrest "raises questions about the application of the rule of law in Ukraine and continues to contribute to the appearance of politically motivated prosecutions" in Ukraine.

The United Kingdom said that it was "very concerned" by the development and warned that an improper trial could harm Ukraine’s relations with the European Union.

Germany said that the investigation of the previous Kyiv government – hundreds of other officials from the previous administration are also being probed – "awakens a suspicion of politically motivated justice".

In a joint statement after Tymoshenko’s August 5 arrest, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle said that they were "very concerned" about reports of the arrest.

"The EU and other international partners of Ukraine have repeatedly underlined the need for fair, transparent and independent legal processes to avoid any perception of a policy of selective justice. Today's events are therefore a cause for concern about the state of the rule of law in Ukraine," the joint statement said.

"We reiterate previous statements that we and other colleagues have made on the high standards we expect from a country aspiring to political association with the EU. We urge Ukraine to uphold the principles and common values that form the core of the Eastern Partnership."

The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia said that Ukrainians were entitled to fair, transparent and independent judicial proceedings.

Czech president Vaclav Klaus sent a personal letter to Yanukovych, saying that he hoped that Tymoshenko's trial would not be used to settle any personal political scores.
 
Analysts 
Interviewed by Interfax-Ukraine, Volodymyr Fesenko, chairman of the board of the Ukrainian Applied Political Research Center "Penta", said: "If the opinion that not only should Tymoshenko be arrested but should also be left behind bars and be given a long prison sentence prevails among the country leadership, this could lead to a serious crisis in relations with the West and seriously complicate or even disrupt the signing of a new basic agreement with the EU or its ratification. And if the West puts the president in some informal diplomatic isolation, this could turn Kyiv away from Brussels toward Moscow, and we could receive Customs Union membership instead of a free trade zone with the EU".

Tymoshenko's arrest was fraught more with political rather than foreign economic risks for Ukraine, he said.

Oleh Soskin, who directs the Institute of Society Transformation, a Kyiv think tank, said that Yanukovych sought to "liquidate" his chief political rival while the nation was on holiday, the Voice of America reported. Tymoshenko was narrowly defeated by Yanukovych in Ukraine’s most recent presidential elections.

The Tymoshenko trial put Ukraine at risk of being put into "political quarantine" in the international arena, Radio Free Europe quoted Vitaliy Bala of the Situations Modelling Agency as saying.
 
Russia and Kyiv 
The Russian foreign ministry said its 2009 natural gas agreements with Ukraine were legal.

"We follow the principle that (Yulia) Tymoshenko's trial must be fair and unbiased and meet all of the requirements of Ukrainian legislation, with the possibility of defence and compliance with the fundamental humanitarian standards and rules," the foreign ministry said, quoted by CNN.

Analysts said that the Kremlin criticised the trial, partly because Putin’s signature was on the gas deal and partly because Russia does not want to lower gas prices for Ukraine, VOA said.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry was putting Kyiv’s point of view to foreign diplomats, the Kyiv Post said on August 9.

Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleh Voloshyn, said that there was "unprecedented involvement by the international community in this lawsuit" and the law enforcement agencies had been "unprecedently open".

Voloshyn criticised attempts by the Ukrainian opposition to use the international dimension to put pressure on Kyiv and put obstacles in Ukraine’s path to the EU. He alleged that the opposition and its allies were attempting to "blackmail" Ukraine by saying that unless Tymoshenko’s trial was stopped, a Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine would not be signed.

The possibility of the agreement being derailed has been reportedly widely, with unnamed officials being quoted as saying that the Tymoshenko trial is endangering the trade treaty with the EU.
 
Time of trial 
Tymoshenko, whose first days in jail saw her forced to let down her trademark traditional braids to comply with prison regulations, was unbowed when she returned to court on August 8, VOA said.

Outside the court, supporters had begun a sit-in to protest against her arrest. There were other public demonstrations, in spite of a ban, and local media said that the interior ministry was gathering forces to break up demonstrations.

When the judge walked in to court on August 8, Tymoshenko said, "I will not stand in front of you because it would be kneeling in front of the mafia. You are not breaking me but Ukraine's young democracy".