KIEV, Dec. 29 – Yulia Tymoshenko, former prime minister and the leader of the largest opposition party in Ukraine, on Wednesday was questioned by prosecutors for six hours without the presence of her lawyer.

She called the interrogation an “extraordinary event” and a “direct torturing” that had been allegedly ordered for political reasons by her opponent, President Viktor Yanukovych.

“Six hours about nothing!” Tymoshenko said after the questioning. “Six hours of direct torturing. I believe there is a limit to anything!”

“If President Yanukovych uses such methods to deal with his opponent then he is worth not more than a penny as a politician and as a person,” Tymoshenko said.

Tymoshenko is under investigation of allegedly misusing some funds raised from selling carbon dioxide emission allowances in 2009 towards paying out pensions and social security payments.

She was questioned repeatedly over the past several weeks, but the latest questioning appears to be longer than usually and – perhaps more importantly - has been carried out without the presence of the lawyer.

The lawyer, who on Wednesday was in Ternopil defending another client at a court hearing, had earlier requested that Tymoshenko’s questioning to be re-scheduled. The prosecutors denied the request.

“Today the extraordinary events have happened at the prosecutors’ office,” Tymoshenko said. “Today - without the presence of the lawyer - they have been making absolutely illegal actions for six hours.”

“They have deprived me the right to be with my defense,” she said. “I could not get out and quit this absurd.”

The investigation of the Tymoshenko case is watched closely by politicians in Ukraine and by foreign diplomats as an indication of whether the government resorts to cracking down on opposition groups and restricting democracy.

In particular, observers watch whether the authorities allow Tymoshenko an opportunity to defend herself as a fair trial.

A number of close Tymoshenko allies have been arrested over the past six months on various charges.

Most recently, Yuiry Lutsenko, the leader of an opposition party Self-Defense, was arrested on Sunday and will spend two months behind bars until his case is submitted for a court hearing.

Tymoshenko’s unusually long questioning on Wednesday was first interpreted as indicating the authorities may have been trying to arrest her. She was asked to show up for another questioning on Thursday.

Oleksandr Turchynov, the No. 2 in Tymoshenko’s party who is being also repeatedly questioned by prosecutors, said Wednesday it was unlikely for the authorities to arrest the opposition leader.

“I don’t believe they will go this unprecedented path,” Turchynov told Channel 5.

By bringing the charges against Tymoshenko, the authorities have restricted her ability to travel, which had resulted in her missing a summit of the European People’s Party in Brussels earlier this month.

Tymoshenko frequently used the opportunity of meeting with European leaders in the past to criticize policies of Yanukovych, and that had irritated many in the Yanukovych administration.

Tymoshenko said that despite her travel restrictions she will try to attend a meeting with senior European People’s Party leaders in January for discussions over democracy in Ukraine.

“I believe this is a very serious discussion that must be conducted with our European partners ahead of a signing of an agreement on political association between Ukraine and Europe,” she said.

“Somehow I am convinced that I will get a permission [from the prosecutors] to attend the meeting with senior European politicians,” Tymoshenko said. (tl/ez)