MOSCOW, January 22 (RAPSI) - The European Court of Human Rights ruled to discontinue the examination of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s application Ukraine due to a “settlement” of the situation, says the court’s press release obtained by RAPSI on Thursday.

It was the second application brought by Yuliya Tymoshenko before the ECHR, and concerned the criminal proceedings brought against her in 2011 relating to contracts for the supply of gas from Russia.

The ECHR statement says that the Ukrainian government made a declaration in which it admitted that the criminal case against Tymoshenko had political motives, and was in violation of her rights.

The ex-prime minister of Ukraine agreed with the terms of the government declaration, and the ECHR ruled that it implies a friendly settlement between the parties under Article 39 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

On October 11, 2011, a Kiev court sentenced Tymoshenko to serve seven years in prison and to pay a large fine for abusing authority by signing gas deals with Russia in 2009. The defendant pled not guilty.

The verdict was later confirmed by a higher court, after which the former prime minister was sent to prison. Tymoshenko was released in February 2014, when after the change of power, the parliament resolved to set her free under Ukraine’s international obligations.