Lawyers of former Interior Minister of Ukraine and leader of the People's Self-Defense party Yuriy Lutsenko have asked Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to take urgent measures to restore the constitutional rights of their client, who has been illegally kept in jail.
"At a request of the General Prosecutor’s Office, which was sanctioned by unconstitutional decisions of the courts, Lutsenko has been unlawfully kept in jail for more than four months," reads an appeal signed by Lutsenko’s lawyers Ihor Fomin and Volodymyr Orlov, and his public defender and wife, Iryna Lutsenko, which was published by the press service of the People’s Self-Defense party on Friday.
According to the defense, the decision to arrest Lutsenko was unlawful.
Commenting on the prisoner’s going on a hunger strike that has already lasted for 15 days, Lutsenko’s lawyers said that their client’s further refusal to accept food poses "a clear threat not only to the health but also to the life of our client."
The statement also recalls that on May 5 Lutsenko said that he refused to undergo force-feeding and protests against the use of force against him.
"Unless immediate actions are taken, permanent damage could be done to the health and life of Yuriy Vitaliyovych Lutsenko. So we are asking for your personal intervention in order to restore his rights, as guaranteed by the Constitution," the appeal reads.
