Jailed Ukrainian opposition figure ends hunger strike
Source: Agencies |
May 10, 2012, Thursday
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JAILED Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, whose plight has soured relations between the country's leadership and the West, was moved to a hospital for treatment for back pains yesterday and ended her hunger strike.
Her transfer from prison in the eastern city of Kharkiv to a nearby hospital for treatment under the supervision of German doctors was worked out last week.
Tymoshenko, 51, a former prime minister, was jailed last October for seven years for alleged abuse of power while in office, a charge she denied.
She says she is the victim of a vendetta by President Viktor Yanukovich, who narrowly beat her for the presidency in February 2010. The European Union and the United States have condemned her trial and sentencing as politically motivated and want her released.
Outcry in the West intensified after Tymoshenko said she had been beaten in jail and went on a hunger strike on April 20 in protest against alleged ill-treatment. Authorities deny she was mistreated.
German doctor Lutz Harms, supervising her treatment, said she ended her hunger strike after being admitted to the Kharkiv clinic yesterday morning. "We have begun to start a normal process of feeding," Harms told reporters.
She will take fruit juice at first and then begin to take solids. Therapy for her back pains will take at least eight weeks, he said.
Witnesses said Tymoshenko was brought to a side entrance of the hospital by ambulance in a convoy that included police cars. Supporters nearby shouted "Freedom for Yulia!" as she was carried in on a stretcher.
Ukraine canceled a meeting of Central and Eastern European leaders after several boycotted it because of Tymoshenko.
Her transfer from prison in the eastern city of Kharkiv to a nearby hospital for treatment under the supervision of German doctors was worked out last week.
Tymoshenko, 51, a former prime minister, was jailed last October for seven years for alleged abuse of power while in office, a charge she denied.
She says she is the victim of a vendetta by President Viktor Yanukovich, who narrowly beat her for the presidency in February 2010. The European Union and the United States have condemned her trial and sentencing as politically motivated and want her released.
Outcry in the West intensified after Tymoshenko said she had been beaten in jail and went on a hunger strike on April 20 in protest against alleged ill-treatment. Authorities deny she was mistreated.
German doctor Lutz Harms, supervising her treatment, said she ended her hunger strike after being admitted to the Kharkiv clinic yesterday morning. "We have begun to start a normal process of feeding," Harms told reporters.
She will take fruit juice at first and then begin to take solids. Therapy for her back pains will take at least eight weeks, he said.
Witnesses said Tymoshenko was brought to a side entrance of the hospital by ambulance in a convoy that included police cars. Supporters nearby shouted "Freedom for Yulia!" as she was carried in on a stretcher.
Ukraine canceled a meeting of Central and Eastern European leaders after several boycotted it because of Tymoshenko.
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