Former Ukraine Pm Tymoshenko Halts Hunger Strike After Almost 3 Weeks

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Former Ukraine PM Tymoshenko halts hunger strike after almost 3 weeks < br /> 2012-05-11 06:45:35 GMT+7 (ICT) KHARKIV, UKRAINE (BNO NEWS) -- Jailed Ukrainian opposition leader and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko has ended her hunger strike after almost three weeks, a German doctor who has been treating her said on Wednesday.Dr. Lutz Harms, from the Charite Clinic in Germany, said Tymoshenko ended her hunger strike after almost 20 days although it was too soon to speak about her recovery. "Today I have inspected my patient and made a certain treatment plan," Harms said, as quoted by Interfax. "We will start removing her from the state of hunger strike gradually. First it will be water and juices, later she will start taking solid food."Previously on Wednesday morning, Tymoshenko was transferred from the Kachanivska prison in Kharkiv to Central Clinical Hospital No. 5 of the Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) in order to receive rehabilitation treatment as recommend by an international medical commission.According to Harms, Tymoshenko will undergo physiotherapy and treatment procedures in the coming days. In total, treatment is expected to last between four to eight weeks.. However, the doctor noted that her health condition has not improved and is "not much different from what it was in prison."Photos of Tymoshenko became public late last month in which she is seen showing bruises on her body after claiming she had been physically abused by prison guards while being transferred from Kachanivska women's penal colony No.54 in Kharkiv to the Ukrzaliznytsia Central Clinical Hospital in Kharkiv in order to receive treatment for a severe spinal condition. Reports indicated that she has been diagnosed with a herniated spinal disc, and the diagnosis was later confirmed during an interview with Professor Einhaupi in Radio Liberty.Tymoshenko, 51, 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 new government 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 and called for her immediate release.

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