Tymoshenko on hunger strike after 'beating'
Source: Agencies |
April 25, 2012, Wednesday
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JAILED former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has gone on a hunger strike after prison guards allegedly beat her, her lawyer said yesterday.
Last Friday Tymoshenko, 51, who suffers from a severe spinal condition and needs hospital treatment, was taken to a clinic in Kharkiv where her prison is located, but was moved back to jail a day later after refusing treatment.
Tymoshenko's lawyer Serhiy Vlasenko said prison officials kicked Tymoshenko in the stomach while taking her to the hospital by force. Tymoshenko refused to be treated at the Kharkiv clinic because she doesn't trust government-appointed doctors.
When prison officials entered her jail cell, Tymoshenko "naturally got scared, began resisting, after which she received a punch in the stomach and passed out," Vlasenko said, adding that she still has a large bruise on her stomach after the incident.
Vlasenko said Tymoshenko has been refusing food since Friday night.
Prosecutors confirmed that Tymoshenko had been taken to the hospital against her will, but claimed prison officials had acted within the law and insisted there was no evidence to support beating allegations.
"The person got packed, dressed and then lied down on the bed and said 'I will not go anywhere,'" Kharkiv regional prosecutor Henadiy Tyurin told reporters in remarks confirmed by his office. "According to the law ... the prison service has the right to use physical measures: she was picked up, carried to the car and taken to the hospital."
Tymoshenko, the country's top opposition leader, was handed a seven-year sentence after being found guilty of abusing her powers during gas negotiations with Russia.
Last Friday Tymoshenko, 51, who suffers from a severe spinal condition and needs hospital treatment, was taken to a clinic in Kharkiv where her prison is located, but was moved back to jail a day later after refusing treatment.
Tymoshenko's lawyer Serhiy Vlasenko said prison officials kicked Tymoshenko in the stomach while taking her to the hospital by force. Tymoshenko refused to be treated at the Kharkiv clinic because she doesn't trust government-appointed doctors.
When prison officials entered her jail cell, Tymoshenko "naturally got scared, began resisting, after which she received a punch in the stomach and passed out," Vlasenko said, adding that she still has a large bruise on her stomach after the incident.
Vlasenko said Tymoshenko has been refusing food since Friday night.
Prosecutors confirmed that Tymoshenko had been taken to the hospital against her will, but claimed prison officials had acted within the law and insisted there was no evidence to support beating allegations.
"The person got packed, dressed and then lied down on the bed and said 'I will not go anywhere,'" Kharkiv regional prosecutor Henadiy Tyurin told reporters in remarks confirmed by his office. "According to the law ... the prison service has the right to use physical measures: she was picked up, carried to the car and taken to the hospital."
Tymoshenko, the country's top opposition leader, was handed a seven-year sentence after being found guilty of abusing her powers during gas negotiations with Russia.
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