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Ukrainian FM invites German physicians to evaluate hospital for Timoshenko

Timoshenko insists that German medics evaluate the Kharkov hospital proposed for her treatment
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

KIEV, April 4 (Itar-Tass) —— The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has invited German physicians to come to Kharkov to evaluate the hospital chosen for the treatment of former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko.

“On April 4, the German ambassador to Ukraine was invited to the Foreign Ministry to receive the Ukrainian side’s request for assistance in organising a trip to the country by the German physicians who were on the international medical commission [which examined Timoshenko] in order to evaluate whether the chosen medical facility meets the recommendations of the German physicians”.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Germany has also conveyed the invitation to the management and physicians of the Charite clinic.

“We hope that the German physicians will be able to come to Ukraine without delay. A prompt resolution of this issue will make it possible to start the recommended examination and treatment of Timoshenko in a specialised health facility outside the Kachanivska Penal Colony,” the ministry said.

Timoshenko insists that German medics evaluate the Kharkov hospital proposed for her treatment.

Her lawyer and MP Sergei Vlasenko said that Timoshenko needs to undergo medical treatment in a specialised clinic. However the Ukrainian railway hospital offered to her does not specialise in the treatment of spinal column conditions.

“We have asked German physicians to come over here and find out whether this clinic can provide the treatment they prescribed. If so, Yulia Vladimirovna will be ready to start it. But she insists on treatment by independent physicians,” Vlasenko said.

Timoshenko has been demanding for a month that she be examined by a physician she can trust – Ukrainian spinal column specialist Nikolai Polishchuk. “But we are told that this is not advisable,” the lawyer said.

“In order to understand to what degree this hospital meets their recommendations, they need to be invited there to come and say whether the operation they have advised can be performed there or not,” Timoshenko’s lawyer Sergei Vlasenko said.

Timoshenko fell ill on August 18, 2011, two weeks after her arrest. Her lawyers say that she “has been in bed for about four months”.

Medics believe that Timoshenko has discal hernia. She has been complaining about pains in the back. Her lawyers claim that her condition was worsening despite medical treatment.

Timoshenko mistrusts Ukrainian medics and rejected their help. She insists that she be examined by independent medics.

On October 11, 2011, Timoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison for having acted in excess of her powers which had resulted in damage to national interests.