Ukraine's senior human rights official on Wednesday, April 25 demanded that prosecutors investigate an allegation by jailed former prime ministerYulia Tymoshenkothat she was beaten by guards.
Tymoshenko said prison guards had beaten her during a forced move to hospital last Friday, a charge denied by the authorities. Her lawyer said on Tuesday she had gone on hunger strike.
Tymoshenko, a political rival of President Viktor Yanukovich, was jailed last October on abuse of office charges. TheEuropean Unionhas condemned her conviction and said its members would not sign deals on political association and free trade withUkrainewhile she remains in jail.
The issue has also cast a shadow overUkraine’s preparations for the Euro-2012 soccer championship.
Tymoshenko said she was dragged out of her cell and beaten after refusing to go to hospital for back pain due to her lack of trust in state-appointed doctors.
On Wednesday,Nina Karpachyova, parliament’s human rights representative, said that during a visit to the prison in the city of Kharkiv, a member of her staff had confirmed that Tymoshenko was bruised.
"The Ombudsman states that escortingYulia Tymoshenko(to hospital) in such a way amounts to cruel treatment of an inmate and can be regarded as torture," she said in a statement.
Ukraine’s parliament, dominated by Yanukovich’s supporters, voted this week to replace Karpachyova but its appointee has yet to be sworn in.
Tymoshenko’s supporters in the legislature blocked its work for a second day on Wednesday, surrounding the speaker’s stand.
"Tymoshenko and others are not treated in line with principles and values which underpin EU-Ukrainepartnership,"Stefan Fule, the European Commissioner in charge of enlargement and neighbourhood policy wrote on Twitter. "It’s (a) visible and painful stain onUkraine."
Jean-Claude Mignon, president of theParliamentary Assemblyof theCouncil of Europe, said: "I appeal to the Ukrainian authorities to swiftly grant authorization for members of the international diplomatic community to visit Mrs. Tymoshenko. It is now urgent that independent doctors are authorised to examine her."
The Interfax news agency quotedUkraine’s Foreign Ministryas saying on Wednesday it was trying to arrange a visit to Tymoshenko by doctors from theGerman clinic Charite.
Ukrainian and German governmentofficials have previously said their governments were in talks with a view to her possibly going toGermanyfor treatment.
Such a move could keep Tymoshenko out ofUkraine- and the European football championship venue Kharkiv – for the duration of the tournament. It is not clear if she would agree to go.
Tymoshenko, 51, has been suffering from back pain for months, her lawyers and family say, and has trouble walking.
She was leader of the 2004 Orange Revolution which doomed Yanukovich’s first bid for the presidency. She has since served twice as prime minister but lost the 2010 presidential vote to Yanukovich in a close run-off.
After losing power, Tymoshenko and a number of her allies have faced corruption-related charges. She says they are politically motivated and aimed at repressing the opposition.
