KIEV, September 3 (Itar-Tass) —— Former Prime Minister and opposition Batkivshchina party leader Yulia Timoshenko’s application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) concerning the violation of her right to a fair trial in the gas case will be filed with the court early next week, her lawyer Sergei Vlasenko said.
“The application will be filed on Monday or Tuesday. We are currently reading through the text, reviewing the attachments, and adding some nuances based on the hearing that already took place in the European Court of Human Rights,” Vlasenko said.
The lawyer hopes that based on the new application the court will require Ukraine to release Yulia Timoshenko, as in the case of Fatullayev v. Azerbaijan.
“There is an obvious similarity between Timoshenko v. Ukraine and Fatullayev v. Azerbaijan. Citizen Fatullayev didn’t commit the crimes that his country's government accused him of, and the charges put forward were fabricated and unsubstantiated. The Azeri government invented three or four criminal cases against him, including possession of narcotics, because journalist Fatullayev wrote articles about Nagorno-Karabakh, in the same way that the Ukrainian government has invented cases against Timoshenko. This was their attempt to discredit the journalist, just like they are now trying to discredit Yulia Timoshenko in Ukraine,” he explained.
“In this case the European court delivered a direct verdict – the only way to protect the applicant’s right is to require the state to release him immediately,” he added.
The Court decided on December 14, 2011 to give priority to the case in view of the serious and sensitive nature of the allegations raised.
On December 30, 2011 Timoshenko was transferred to the Kachanivska Correctional Colony in Kharkov. On March 14, 2012 she applied to the Court for an interim measure, asking to be transferred to an appropriate medical institution in view of her health.
On March 15, 2012 the Court requested that the Ukrainian Government, under Rule 391 of its Rules of Court, ensure Timoshenko's adequate medical treatment in an appropriate institutionalised setting.
On April 4, 2012 she was offered a transfer to the Central Clinical Hospital of the State Railway. From April 13 to 15, 2012 German doctors from the Charite Hospital examined her and visited the premises of this hospital.
On April 20, 2012 the Court invited the Government to inform the Court what steps had been taken to comply with the terms of the interim measure applied on March 15, 2012. On the same day Timoshenko was transferred to the Central Clinical Hospital of the State Railway. During her transfer, she allegedly received bruises on her stomach and arms. She refused medical treatment because of what she contended was the inappropriateness of that hospital for her needs. She announced a hunger strike in protest against the prison guard's violence and her forced transfer.
On April 22, 2012, Timoshenko was returned to prison. On the next day she filed a complaint with the Kharkov Prosecutor's Office about her forced transfer to the hospital.
On May 9, 2012 Timoshenko was again transferred to the Central Clinical Hospital of the State Railway where she started medical treatment under the supervision of a German neurologist. On the same day she ended her 20-day hunger strike.
On October 11, 2011, Kiev's Pechersky District Court sentenced Timoshenko to seven years in prison.
Timoshenko is also facing new charges as former head of the Unified Energy Systems of Ukraine.