Former Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko, who is imprisoned in the Kachanivska penal colony (Kharkiv), has again refused to undergo a medical examination, according to the head of the Health Ministry's commission, Raisa Moiseyenko.
"Unfortunately, she rejected the examination again," Moiseyenko told reporters.
She also said that Tymoshenko did not receive a rolling walker or crutches as there were no medical indications she needed to use such rehabilitation means.
When asked whether doctors in the commission could be replaced, Moiseyenko said that the Health Ministry did not receive such a request.
The head of the Kachanivska colony, Ivan Pervushkin, said that Tymoshenko’s cell does not differ from other cells in the colony’s pre-trial detention sector.
According to him, in all six cells the windows are covered by metallic nets and bars. He added that on Monday investigatory procedures were held with Tymoshenko without her lawyer.
Professor of Neurosurgery, and former Health Minister Mykola Polischuk has suggested that Yulia Tymoshenko may have been given an injection of a powerful sleeping drug – sodium hydroxybutyrate (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, GHB) on Jan. 6, after which she lost consciousness.
"We have information that Yulia Tymoshenko was allegedly given GHB – a sedative medication that is not used in the West, but is used only in the CIS countries," the former health minister has said.
He said this drug should be used only under the constant supervision of a physician. "It causes drowsiness and may have other adverse effects," Polischuk said.
On Jan. 10, first deputy head of the Batkivschyna Party Oleksandr Turchynov said that Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was unconscious for over two hours in Kachanivska penal colony in Kharkiv, after she was given unknown medicines.
He added that Tymoshenko had been given drugs to treat an acute viral infection.
