Kharkiv - The Ukrainian State Penitentiary Service has confirmed that it was ready to transfer Ukrainian former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko to Kyiv if she provided "a written statement with a clearly stated position."
“We are ready to carry out, to transfer. Let her write herself that she is ready, that she wants to participate in the court session, and that she has no complaints against us. Let her do her packing. And we will organize the whole thing and will conduct it adequately,” deputy head of the Kharkiv region state penal service Andriy Lapinsky told journalists on Friday.
Head of Kachanivska penal colony Ihor Kolpaschykov said late Thursday that from 1800 with a 40-50 minute interval they received three statements from Tymoshenko with demands to inform her immediately whether a transfer has been scheduled.
Kolpaschykov said that he arrived at 2145 p.m. at the Central Clinical Hospital 5, where Tymoshenko is being treated, to explain her transfer procedure, conditions, and time, which he estimated would take 6-7 hours.
“She asked how much time the transfer would take. It would take around 6-7 hours, and then she said by the way, I want to tell you that you have to act legally. And as you know, a transfer from a hospital is legally forbidden. I don’t have to jeopardize my health. It’ll take me a while to restore my health after all this torture, and you know it perfectly well,” Kolpaschykov said. “We treated this reply as a refusal to participate in the court session in Kyiv,” he said.
The penal officials said that they considered Tymoshenko’s behavior to be a provocation, a public display to make people believe her rights are being infringed on.
