The defense team and the family of former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, who is being held in a pretrial detention facility, has claimed that his health and life are in danger.
"The authorities have decided to physically annihilate Lutsenko by concealing his illnesses so that they do not have to hand down an unlawful ruling," Iryna Lutsenko, the ex-minster's wife, said at a press conference in Kyiv on Sept.1.
"The authorities are deliberately annihilating my husband by not providing him with medical aid," she said.
Prominent medical specialists examined Yuriy Lutsenko at the Lukyanivka pretrial detention facility with Pechersky District Court judge Serhiy Vovk’s permission on August 30, she said.
"He has been diagnosed with cryptogenic cirrhosis accompanied by portal hypertension and esophageal varices. Taking into account the progressive nature of the disease, the doctors recommended that the patient be treated and undergo an extra examination at a special gastroenterological hospital to clarify the diagnosis," Iryna Lutsenko said.
The ex-minister’s defense said Justice Vovk did not allow Lutsenko’s examination at a Kyiv clinic on September 1.
Lutsenko was detained on December 26, 2010, and the court sanctioned his arrest soon afterwards.
