Czech Republic grants asylum to Tymoshenko's husband

The husband of jailed former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was granted political asylum in the Czech Republic on Friday,the Associated Press reports. His lawyer said he left his country because its government has launched a criminal investigation against him. Last year, the Czech Republic angered Ukraine by granting asylum to another ally of Yulia Tymoshenko's, and Friday's decision to do that with her husband is likely further strain the countries' relations. Czech Interior Ministry spokesman Vladimir Repka said his ministry approved the application submitted by Oleksandr Tymoshenko, but refused to provide details about the decision. Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's top opposition leader and a former presidential candidate, was sentenced to seven years in jail in October in a trial the West has condemned as politically motivated. She has reportedly been in poor health and denied medical care while locked up in a Kiev, Ukraine, prison before she was taken to a remote prison colony in the city of Kharkiv. In December, the European Union balked at signing a landmark cooperation agreement with Ukraine over the jailing of Tymoshenko.