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Timoshenko’s condition deteriorates, lawyer says

The ex-premier inadvertently provoked a deterioration of the pain syndrome in the lumbar part of spinal cord during a morning walk

KIEV, November 7 (Itar-Tass) — The condition of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko has “deteriorated sharply”, one of its lawyers, Sergei Vlasenko, said.

He tried to meet with Timoshenko, but the head of the investigation prison, where she is being held, said that “Yulia Vladimirovna cannot meet me because of a sharp pain in the vertebrae”.

“As a lawyer, I have been denied the opportunity to visit Timoshenko for the next several days,” Vlasenko said.

He noted that the investigation prison management had rejected his suggestion to organise his meetings with Timoshenko in the cell.

The penitentiary service said, “The ex-premier inadvertently provoked a deterioration of the pain syndrome in the lumbar part of spinal cord during a morning walk on November 5.”

Vlasenko said that the materials of the so-called “gas case” opened against Timoshenko should be transferred from Kiev’s Pechersky Court to the Court of Appeals before November 14.

He also said that the “tax service has resumed the investigation of four criminal cases concerning the operation of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine, which involve the former prime minister”.

Resolutions on the resumption of the investigation were delivered to Timoshenko on November 4.

On October 11, Timoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison for having acted in excess of her powers which had resulted in damage to the national interests of the country.

Timoshenko has also been barred from holding public positions for three years and has to pay a penalty of 189 million U.S. dollars in damages to Naftogaz Ukrainy.

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