You're reading: Kuzmin: Prosecutor’s office investigating case of Tymoshenko’s causing bodily injuries to prison officer

A criminal investigation has been launched into the cause of convicted former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko's causing bodily injuries to an officer of Kyiv detention facility, Ukraine's First Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin said in an interview published in the Thursday issue of the Segodnya (Today)newspaper. 

Asked whether prosecutors have more charges to bring against Tymoshenko in addition to those regarding the purchase of ambulances by the Ukrainian government and the utilization of proceeds from selling greenhouse emission quotas under the Kyoto Protocol, Kuzmin said, “Apart from these, there is a case on Yulia Tymoshenko causing bodily injuries to a detention facility officer in line of duty.”

“There are other cases as well. They are also being investigated. And I can assure you that we won’t keep a single case. Each of them will be completed within the time stipulated by the law and forwarded to courts.”

Kuzmin said back in December 2011 that Tymoshenko accompanied by a number of parliamentarians had broken into Kyiv pretrial detention facility in 2003. “She [Tymoshenko] obstructed the institution’s normal work, threatened the facility workers, and personally caused bodily injuries to one of them, an officer,” he said.

On October 11, 2011, the Pechersky District Court in Kyiv sentenced Tymoshenko to seven years of imprisonment for exceeding her authority when signing gas contracts with Russia in 2009. She has been serving her sentence at the Kachanivska correctional facility in Kharkiv since late December 2011.

Tymoshenko’s lawyers repeatedly spoke of her health problems and demanded a health checkup by independent specialists, citing the former prime minister’s distrust in Ukrainian doctors. Tymoshenko was transferred to Kharkiv’s Central Hospital No. 5 on May 9. Tymoshenko’s rehabilitation process is being monitored by German doctors.

Tymoshenko was detained on August 5, 2011.