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US concerned over Timoshenko’s custody conditions

The United States is deeply concerned by the treatment of former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko and other imprisoned members of her former government

WASHIGNTON DC, May 1 (Itar-Tass) —— The United States is seriously concerned over the custody conditions and medical treatment of ex-Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko.

“The United States is deeply concerned by the treatment of former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko and other imprisoned members of her former government. The photographs of Mrs. Timoshenko released by the Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudsman further call into question the conditions of her confinement. We urge the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that Mrs. Timoshenko receives immediate medical assistance in an appropriate facility and request that the U.S. Ambassador be given access to her,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement.

“We continue to call for her release, the release of other members of her former government and the restoration of their full civil and political rights,” she said.

Timoshenko went on a hunger strike on April 20 after personnel of the Kharkov penitentiary allegedly used force against her during the transfer to the hospital.

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.