Western leaders have condemned the jailing of former Ukraine prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Ms Tymoshenko has been jailed for seven years for acting beyond her powers in sealing a gas deal with Russia in 2009.
The judge ruled that she had "used her powers for criminal ends" by pushing Ukraine's state energy firm Naftogaz into a deal with Russia's Gazprom.
Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt says it was a "political show-trial" and the White House has called for her release, saying it has serious concerns about the Ukrainian government's commitment to democracy and rule of law.
Judge Rodion Kireyev jailed Ms Tymoshenko for seven years but even before he had finished reading his verdict, the BBC reports, she stood up to denounce what he'd done. Vowing to fight on, she promised her supporters that they would one day achieve a free, European, democratic Ukraine.
She can appeal against the sentence, but it will be a long, tedious process to take it to the next level.
Hundreds of Tymoshenko supporters gathered outside the court, some getting into scuffles with security forces.
Supporters say the current president, Viktor Yanukovych, orchestrated the trial to get rid of his bitter political rival.
Ms Tymoshenko was the heroine of the Western-leaning Orange Revolution - the sudden street protests that erupted after a fraudulent presidential election in 2004.
She was made prime minister shortly afterwards, but over the next few years the reform movement stagnated and she fell out with her Orange allies - some of whom, including former president Viktor Yushchenko, testified against her.
In 2010 she was forced into opposition as Mr Yanukovych rose to power.
