KYIV, Feb. 14 – The Batkivshchyna Party said in a statement on Wednesday that their arrested leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, is being held in Lukianiv prison where conditions for inmates are said to be the worst in Kyiv, UNIAN reported.
Batkivshchyna Party member and close Tymoshenko ally Oleksandr Turchynov said that according to his sources, President Leonid Kuchma personally ordered that law enforcement and prison institution officials ensure that Tymoshenko be made to endure the worst possible conditions while in jail.
Tymoshenko was arrested on Tuesday on charges of alleged gas smuggling and forgery. Tymoshenko denied the charges and vowed to organize political forces in opposition to Kuchma and the present administration.
Last week, Tymoshenko joined the National Salvation Forum, a newly formed grouping of opposition lawmakers and politicians from a wide spectrum of political parties whose stated goals are removing Kuchma from office and changing the structure of the current government into a parliamentary-presidential republic.
On Jan. 19, Kuchma fired Tymoshenko as deputy prime minister for energy because of her alleged corrupt dealings in that sector.
Tymoshenko has maintained that the charges against her have been faked by her enemies who wanted to stop her energy sector reforms.
