Lawyer says condition of former Ukrainian PM Tymoshenko is worsening

[News_Editor]

Lawyer says condition of former Ukrainian PM Tymoshenko is worsening

2011-11-30 20:41:20 GMT+7 (ICT)

KIEV (BNO NEWS) -- The health of jailed Ukrainian opposition leader and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko is quickly deteriorating, despite claims from the government, her lawyer Serhiy Vlasenko said on Tuesday.

Vlasenko told reporters at a briefing near the Lukyanivka jail in Kiev that the ex-premier has not been receiving medical assistance for more than a day. Tymoshenko told him that "it's very, very cold" in her cell and that overall the conditions "are terrible," the Kyiv Post reported on Wednesday.

"Tymoshenko's condition has worsened, despite the statements by [ukrainian President Viktor] Yanukovych that she allegedly received medical treatment," Vlasenko said, as quoted by the newspaper. "Tymoshenko has new symptoms. She occasionally feels dizzy, she has nose bleeds, and she has numbness in her left arm."

Vlasenko also said President Viktor Yanukovych was deliberately failing to provide assistance to Tymoshenko. "I am convinced that she was deliberately moved to such a cell, she is being deliberately kept in conditions that are conducive to Tymoshenko's physical removal, and this is being done at the behest of the president," he said.

Yanukovych said last week that Tymoshenko would receive medical treatment outside prison. He assured that the matter of Tymoshenko's health is under his control, adding that specialists would be involved in the treatment of the former premier if necessary.

But Tymoshenko's legal team has said her health is quickly deteriorating. The Batkivschyna All-Ukrainian Association party is appealing to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the European Regional Bureau of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the international organization Doctors Without Borders to help diagnose and treat Tymoshenko.

Tymoshenko is serving a seven-year term for abuse of power in connection with a 2009 gas deal with Russia. She was accused of illegally forcing state energy company Naftogaz to sign a gas supply contract with Russian gas company Gazprom in 2009, which the state says required approval of the Cabinet of Ministers.

Tymoshenko has claimed her trial is politically motivated and an attempt by President Viktor Yanukovych, who narrowly beat her in the presidential election in February 2010, to bar her from future elections. The international community has largely condemned her trial.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-11-30

[bigbamboo]

I don't know whether she's innocent or gulity, who can ever tell with these political types, but it's curious how many rich individuals suffer poor health when they are nabbed.

Edited December 1, 2011 by bigbamboo

[TAWP]

Why would they keep her in a cold cell if not to apply undue punishment.

I cannot see how anyone can defend that.