There is no reason to release former Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko from prison due to her disease, however there is a number of other legal ways to set her free.
First Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Renat Kuzmin said during a hotline conference organized by the Komsomolskaya Pravda v Ukraine newspaper on Wednesday that the legislation contains a list of diseases due to which a convict can be released for treatment, following which the person has to return to prison.
“There are several legal ways to set free a person. A disease is one of them… The disease with which Tymoshenko was diagnosed is not on the list,” he said.
In connection with this, Kuzmin said that it is premature to raise the issue of releasing Tymoshenko.
At the same time, he named several other legal reasons for Tymoshenko’s release from imprisonment.
According to him, this may be amnesty, decriminalization of relevant laws, adoption of a special law by the parliament, and the president’s pardon.
“These legal reasons are sufficient. Such legal decisions could be taken,” he said.
Asked whether Tymoshenko’s release is realistic, Kuzmin said: “Nothing is impossible.”
On October 11, 2011, Pechersky District Court in Kyiv sentenced Tymoshenko to seven years in prison for abuse of office in signing gas contracts with Russia in 2009. She has served her sentence in Kachanivska Penal Colony in Kharkiv since late December 2011.
On May 9, 2012, Tymoshenko was transferred to Central Clinical Hospital No. 5 in Kharkiv to undergo a course of treatment.
Meanwhile, another criminal case against Tymoshenko on the activities of the United Energy Systems (UESU) Corporation is being considered in Kharkiv. Tymoshenko refuses to attend the hearings. The court has adjourned the UESU case hearings several times due to Tymoshenko’s disease.
