Vlasenko: Prosecutors want to return Tymoshenko to prison before next UESU case session

The Prosecutor's Office plans to transfer former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko from Kharkiv's hospital back to the Kachanivska penal colony, Tymoshenko's defense lawyer Serhiy Vlasenko said. 

"We are discussing the possibility of Tymoshenko's release from prison, but the information available to us points to the contrary. It says that the Prosecutor's Office team is going to fast-track court proceedings in Kharkiv. For these purposes, over the coming weekend they plan to throw Tymoshenko out of the hospital without finishing her treatment and drag her back to the Kachanivska penal colony in order to secure the second artificial conviction, after which they will raise the issue of [parliamentarian Yevhen] Scherban," Vlasenko was quoted by the Batkivschyna party's press service as saying to the TVi television station.

On October 11, 2011, the Pechersky District Court in Kyiv sentenced Tymoshenko to seven years of imprisonment for exceeding her authority when signing gas contracts with Russia in 2009. She has been serving her sentence at the Kachanivska correctional facility in Kharkiv since late December 2011.

Tymoshenko's lawyers repeatedly spoke of her health problems and demanded a health checkup by independent specialists, citing the former prime minister's distrust in Ukrainian doctors. Tymoshenko was transferred to Kharkiv's Central Hospital No. 5 on May 9. Tymoshenko's rehabilitation process is overseen by German doctors.

A court in Kharkiv is hearing a case opened into the operations of natural gas trading company Unified Energy Systems of Ukraine (UESU). Its next session has been set for August 14. Tymoshenko has not been present at any court sessions during the trial and has refused to take part in it via a video link.

Tymoshenko was detained on August 5, 2011.