The examinations carried out by German and Canadian doctors this month have shown that the authorities have been untruthful about the state of the opposition leader’s health and are not providing her with adequate treatment.
In a blatant example of the cruel and cynical official spin, Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka said on Feb. 17: “There is no in-house hospital treatment or operation needed. These are the finandings of foreign specialists who examined Tymoshenko.” Moreover, Pshonka has no authority over her in prison.
But while officials claim she does not need treatment, one of the Canadian doctors, Peter Kujtan, said she is “in constant pain” and needs further tests. Her daughter says she has a spinal disc hernia and may need an operation.
Despite inviting the doctors, the Ukrainian authorities apparently held them at the border for 10 hours before allowing them into the country. A pro-presidential lawmaker revealed the identities of the Canadian doctors in an accusatory blog, claiming they were not professionals. The doctors say they were not allowed to carry out all the tests they wanted.
If this was an attempt to prove to the West that Tymoshenko is not seriously ill and that she is receiving adequate treatment, it was a failure. The examination proved otherwise. The difficulties the doctors faced in getting into the country and making the examination are typical obstruction from a government that would cut off its nose to spite its face.
The authorities have shown no sign of doing what they should, and what the U.S. and the European Union have demanded – freeing Tymoshenko. At the least, however, they must provide her with the urgent treatment she needs.
Why should the case of Tymoshenko be treated specially, when thousands of prisoners are suffering from much more serious illnesses such as tuberculosis?
Because her imprisonment and mistreatment is a symptom of the wider problems of Ukraine under President Viktor Yanukovych – the abuse of power for vengeance and the placing of personal gain ahead of the state and its people.
If these problems aren’t solved, conditions for Ukrainian society as a whole – from prisoners to pensioners – will not be improved.
The conviction and imprisonment of Tymoshenko, among others, showed Ukraine’s leaders are bent on persecution and not interested in democracy. Maltreatment of defenseless prisoners in state custody shows inhumanity.
