The State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine has rejected recent statements of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's defense lawyers saying that the ex-premier agreed to transportation to Kyiv on Feb. 13 for the participation in the court hearing of the criminal case on the murder of Ukrainian parliamentarian Yevhen Scherban, who was shot dead in 1996.
The prison service said on Thursday that its female employees several times talked to Tymoshenko on February 12 and asked her to declare in written form her position regarding the participation in the court hearing.
“However, the convict categorically refused to do this. Besides they showed her a document confirming her refusal [to go to Kyiv] and the convict did not make any complaints about it,” the state service said.
The prison service said that Tymoshenko’s defense lawyers and Tymoshenko herself are trying to slander employees of the State Penitentiary Service and groundlessly accuse them of actions they never took.
“We are again calling on them to stop lying about the actions of the colony’s employees,” the prison service said.
The service also said that in case the ex-premier agrees to attend the court hearing on Feb. 15, the penitentiary service is ready to transport her to Kyiv according to the legislation.
The prison service also said that it would transport Tymoshenko to court in Kyiv only as soon as the convict submits a relevant written request to avoid further accusations of illegal actions against the ex-premier.
