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Timoshenko won’t be treated abroad – Ukrainian prosecutor general

He described the unwillingness of Timoshenko to accept medical services of Ukrainian doctors with the intention to drag out her trial
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

KIEV, April 20 (Itar-Tass) —— Ex-Ukrainian Prime Minister, Batkivshchyna Party leader Yulia Timoshenko will not be treated abroad, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka said on Friday.

“The law does not provide an opportunity for Timoshenko’s treatment abroad. There is no law anywhere to allow a convict to receive therapy outside of the home country,” he said.

He described the unwillingness of Timoshenko to accept medical services of Ukrainian doctors with the intention to drag out her trial.

“The refusal to receive therapy at a special room of the Kharkov hospital means the wish to drag out the trial. German doctors officially confirmed the healthcare capacities of the hospital. It is a wonderful institution, which complies with European standards,” he said.

Doctors from the German Charite Clinic have no claims to the Kharkov Ukrzheldorogi hospital offering treatment to Timoshenko, the Ukrainian Health Ministry said on Friday with the reference to the Foreign Ministry and the German embassy in Ukraine. The doctors particularly lauded the hospital equipment, which allowed teleconferences with other Ukrainian regions and European states.

The Ukrainian Health Ministry said that they planned to treat Timoshenko at the spine and nervous system department of the Ukrzheldorogi clinic. “The material and technical conditions of this holiday meet every demand of the German specialists. They are also approved by all members of the Health Ministry’s special commission,” the ministry said.

Acting head of the Kharkov regional department of the Ukrainian State Penitentiary Service Yevgeny Barash said that three rooms had been assigned for Timoshenko on the 9th floor of the hospital: a hospital room with a bed, a wardrobe, a wall lamp, a wash basin, a toilet, an electric kettle, a water cooler and a plasma TV. There is also a dining room and a room for meeting with lawyers. The same floor has a plasmapheresis room and a remedial gymnastic room.

Timoshenko is serving a seven-year-term in Kharkov. The court sentenced her on October 11, 2011, for exceeding her authority in the signing of the gas contracts with Russia in 2009. She was also compelled to pay 1.51 billion hryvni (almost $200 million) to Neftegaz Ukrainy.

A new case against her was opened on October 13, 2011, for writing off the debt of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine private corporation to the Russian Defense Ministry worth $405,500,000 to the state budget of Ukraine, while being the corporation president, under conspiracy with other former Prime Minister Pavel Lazarenko.