this (third criminal) case. She was not arrested. On 26 April 2011, Tymoshenko sued businessman Dmytro Firtash and Swiss-based RosUkrEnergo in a US District Court in Manhattan, accusing them of "defrauding Ukraine's citizenry by manipulating an arbitration court ruling" and "undermining the rule of law in Ukraine" in connection with a 2010 international arbitration court ruling in Stockholm that ordered Ukraine's state energy company Naftogaz to pay RosUkrEnergo 11 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas to compensate for fuel it had "expropriated" plus 1.1 billion bcm as a penalty. Throughout Yanukovych's presidency, Tymoshenko stayed very critical of his and the Azarov Government's performances and intentions which, among others, she accused of selling out to Russia and of being a "funeral of democracy." Tymoshenko has accused "many of Ukraine's neighbours" of turning a blind eye to "Yanukovych's strangulation of Ukraine's democracy, some openly celebrate the supposed 'stability' that his regime has imposed." She believes "Ukraine can return to a democratic path of development only with an active civil society and support from the international community." 2011 trial and imprisonment and other criminal cases against Tymoshenko In May 2010, the Ukrainian General Prosecutor's office started a number of criminal cases against Yulia Tymoshenko which prevented her from normal political activity and from international travel to her allies in the West. The European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the Yanukovych government for persecution of Tymoshenko as well as for prosecution in the "Gas case" and other cases against her and her ministers. On 24 June 2011, a trial started in the "gas case", concerning a contract signed in 2009 with Russian gas company Gazprom to supply natural gas to Ukraine. Tymoshenko was charged with abuse of power and embezzlement, as the court found the deal anti-economic for the country and abusive. Tymoshenko's trial (she was charged in May 2011) for abuse of office concerning a natural gas imports contract signed with Russia in January 2009 started on 24 June 2011 in Kyiv. A number of criminal cases were also opened against former officials from the second Tymoshenko Government. According to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, those cases were indiscriminately made to fight corruption in Ukraine. Former President Viktor Yushchenko testified against Tymoshenko during the trial, which he called "a normal judicial process." The trial against Tymoshenko has been referred to as "selective justice" and "political persecution" in statements by the U.S., Russia, United