KIEV, October 5 - RAPSI. The Ukrainian parliament rejected on Wednesday all four bills introducing Criminal Code amendments that would allow former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to escape criminal liability if convicted in the "gas case," RIA Novosti reports.

The deputies refused to include in the agenda three draft laws proposed by the opposition. They were intended to decriminalize the offenses with which Tymoshenko has been charged (abuse of power and office).

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office has charged Tymoshenko with abuse of power in connection with her approval of a Russian gas contract in 2009, when she served as prime minister. Tymoshenko was arrested on August 5.