The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday ruled that Ukraine's detention of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko was unlawful, in a decision the opposition leader's camp saw as a key step towards her release. "The court considered that the detention had been arbitrary and unlawful during the entire period," the judges of the Strasbourg-based court said. The European Union is mulling a trade and association accord with the ex-Soviet republic and has clearly said it wanted Kiev to release the charismatic Tymoshenko.

STRASBOURG, France - Europe's human rights court says Ukraine's jailing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was a politically motivated violation of her rights. A Ukrainian government official stormed out of the courtroom after Tuesday's ruling in a case that has strained the former Soviet state's ties with Europe and the United States. Tymoshenko, an architect of Ukraine's 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution, was sentenced to seven years in prison in October 2011 after being convicted of exceeding her powers as premier while negotiating a gas contract with Russia.

The release of jailed former premier Yulia Tymoshenko is a key objective of European Union policy as it reviews ties with Ukraine and the possible signing of an association and trade accord, top officials said after an in-depth trip to Kiev. The agreement -- an important step on the way to possible future EU membership for Ukraine -- is due to be signed in November but first Brussels wants to address a whole series of rights issues with Kiev, chief among them the jailing of Tymoshenko.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said on Thursday he could not pardon jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko despite the early release from jail of one of her top allies. "I have answered this question on repeated occasions," the former Soviet republic's leader told reporters. "Until the court hearings into Tymoshenko are over, it is impossible to review the issue of a pardon."