KIEV, March 5 – A ruling that may strip jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s key defender of his parliamentary mandate was postponed until Wednesday as court requested additional information from state agencies, lawmakers said Tuesday.

Serhiy Vlasenko, who plays the key role in Tymoshenko’s legal defense, was alleged by Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Rybak of combining lawmaker duties with lawyer work, which is prohibited by law.

Rybak asked the Supreme Administrative Court to step in and to cancel Vlasenko’s mandate. He alleged that Vlasenko has violated the law by failing to give up his lawyer's license as lawmakers are supposed to do. Vlasenko says he had filed the necessary papers in time.

"He is guilty of only one thing - defending me," Tymoshenko said.

Opposition lawmakers said the lawsuit against Vlasenko is an attack against key opposition figure and is another step in politically motivated trials.

“This is putting pressure on the opposition,” Vitaliy Klichko, the leader of the Udar party, said. “None of the lawmakers are being allowed to do his or her job as anyone can be stripped of their mandate any time.”

Should Vlasenko lose his seat in Parliament, he would automatically lose immunity from prosecution, exposing him to the possibility of an arrest, opposition lawmakers said.

He has an outstanding legal dispute with his ex-wife over property that may quickly lead to his arrest. Vlasenko aid he expected his arrest before his birthday on March 7.

Vlasenko’s arrest, in turn, would greatly impede legal defense of Tymoshenko, who is facing life in prison as prosecutors allege her involvement into the murder of a prominent politician and businessman in 1996.

Tymoshenko denied any charges and said the trial is politically motivated and orchestrated by President Viktor Yanukovych.

Tymoshenko was jailed to seven years in prison in October 2011 for negotiating a controversial natural gas deal with Russia in January 2009.

After her initial conviction and citing selective justice, the European Union shelved planned deals with Ukraine on political association and free trade.

Brussels has said it could sign the agreements this year if Ukraine addresses the issue of selective justice along with other concerns. (tl/ez)