KIEV, Ukraine - The United States has condemned the five-year prison term handed down to a top ally of jailed former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko as politically motivated and is calling for his release.
A Kyiv court on Thursday found former acting Defence Minister Valery Ivashchenko guilty of abusing his office during the sell-off of a state shipbuilding plant in 2009.
The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said in a statement Friday that it is "deeply disappointed" by the verdict as the "latest example of selective justice."
Tymoshenko, 51, the top opposition leader, is serving a seven-year term of charges of abuse of office, while her former Interior Minister has been sentenced to four years in prison on similar charges.
Tymoshenko accuses President Viktor Yanukovych of getting rid of political opponents.
