Prison service asking Health Ministry to set up commission to decide on duration of Tymoshenko's treatment

The State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine has asked the Health Ministry to set up a joint commission made up of medical experts of the ministry, the penitentiary service, and doctors of Berlin-based Charite Clinics to decide on the time period needed for the rehabilitation of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in the Kharkiv hospital in which she is being treated. 

The press service of the Penitentiary Service said that Tymoshenko had been undergoing examinations by medical teams involving German doctors since February 2012. On May 9, she started a rehabilitation course in compliance with recommendations provided by German doctors and under their constant supervision in Kharkiv Central Clinical Hospital No.5, which was selected by those doctors.

"We want to inform that during that period, Tymoshenko has been constantly disrupting the treatment process, refusing to undergo procedures, mostly by holding numerous meetings," the press service said.

On October 11, 2011, Pechersky District Court in Kyiv sentenced Tymoshenko to seven years in prison for abuse of office when signing gas contracts with Russia in 2009. She has been serving her prison term in the Kachanivska penal colony in Kharkiv since the end of December 2011.

The defense team has repeatedly stated that Tymoshenko had health problems even during her stay in Kyiv's pre-trial detention center, and demanded that she be examined by independent doctors, because Tymoshenko does not trust Ukrainian doctors. On May 9, Tymoshenko was moved from the prison to Central Clinical Hospital No. 5 in Kharkiv. The procedures for the ex-premier's treatment in hospital have been selected by German doctors from the Charite Clinic.

The trial in the criminal case against Tymoshenko on the activities of the UESU under her management is taking place in Kharkiv.

Tymoshenko hasn't attended court sittings during the time of her stay in prison and in hospital.