The European Union is concerned about the fact that former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko has been unexpectedly discharged from a Kyiv clinic and transported back to prison, and urges the Ukrainian authorities to undertake responsibility for the ex-minister's health.
“We’re following the situation with Yuriy Lutsenko, and we’re concerned about the news of his sudden transfer from the hospital back to prison,” reads an EU statement, the text of which has been made available to Interfax-Ukraine.
The EU said Lutsenko was discharged from the hospital despite having health problems, and his relatives were not informed about this.
“We’re calling on the Ukrainian authorities to undertake responsibility for the humanitarian aspects and the situation with Lutsenko’s state of health, as well as for the risks connected with his return to prison,” reads the statement.
The EU also urged the Ukrainian authorities to let Lutsenko contact and meet his relatives and his defense team.
“We will keep monitoring the situation with Lutsenko,” the EU said.
The EU also stressed the importance of an EU Council resolution dated December 10, 2012, saying that Ukraine should solve the problem of politically motivated criminal cases.
As reported, the convicted former interior minister, Yuriy Lutsenko, who underwent surgery in the Oberig private clinic in Kyiv, was transferred back to Mena penal colony in Kyiv region on Wednesday, January 30, in the morning.
The press service of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine reported that on January 30, Lutsenko was discharged by Oberig doctors from the clinic.
According to the press service, after the planned operation, the doctors provided their recommendations for the further outpatient treatment of Lutsenko, which will be conducted by medical staff of the penal colony.
Lutsenko has been serving a sentence in Mena colony, Chernihiv region, for several crimes involving the abuse of office, since the end of August 2012.
