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PACE officials come to Ukraine for meeting with Timoshenko

On Tuesday, May 15, Timoshenko refused to take medical treatment

KHARKOV, May 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) arrived at Kharkov’s railway hospital on Wednesday, May 16, for a meeting with former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko who is undergoing medical treatment there.

Mailis Reps (Estonia, ALDE) and Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin (Sweden, EPP/CD), PACE co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Ukraine, came to Kharkov for a meeting with Timoshenko and her lawyers. They also talked to the lawyers of the imprisoned former government ministers, Yuri Lutsenko and Valery Ivashchenko.

These meetings will be held during a monitoring visit by the co-rapporteurs (15-17 May), the purpose of which is to assess the implementation of PACE Resolution 1862 (2012) on the functioning of democratic institutions in Ukraine.

In Kiev, Reps and de Pourbaix-Lundin are due to meet the Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, the parliamentary committee responsible for the implementation of Resolution 1862 (2012), the General Prosecutor, representatives of political parties and the Ukrainian delegation to PACE. They will also meet local government and NGO representatives in Kharkov.

The co-rapporteurs previously travelled to Kiev for a monitoring visit on March 27-29, 2012, following which they made a statement.

The Euronest Parliamentary Assembly earlier urged the Ukrainian authorities to stop denying former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko her basic human right to medical care.

In an urgent resolution adopted in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Wednesday, April 4, the Assembly, which brings together Members of the European Parliament and MPs from the EU's eastern neighbour countries, called on the Ukrainian authorities to allow Timoshenko to undergo regular independent toxicology tests in the EU, medical treatment outside the prison system and regular health checks by international medical experts. It notes that these experts have encountered obstacles when trying to assess her condition.

Euronest members urge the Ukrainian authorities to guarantee the fundamental right to health and well-being of Timoshenko and also to ensure that she gets the medical care that she needs, in line with international standards.

Timoshenko has agreed to resume the course of medical treatment she was receiving at Kharkov’s railway hospital, the press service of the Ukrainian Health Ministry said on Wednesday, May 16.

“German doctor Harms, Central Clinical Hospital Head Afanasyev and physician Fursa visited Timoshenko this morning. The patient agreed to resume the course of treatment recommended to her,” the press service said.

On Tuesday, May 15, Timoshenko refused to take medical treatment claiming that the State Penitentiary Service and mass media had published information about her treatment without her consent.

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