Decision on Timoshenko’s treatment abroad to be made before Oct-opposition

The decision allowing former Prime Minister and opposition Batkivshchina party leader Yulia Timoshenko to undergo medical treatment abroad should be made before the end of September, her colleague in the party and head of its faction in the national parliament, Arseny Yatsenyuk, said. “I do hope that we will get the answer to this question before the end of September,” he said on Saturday, August 24. Yatsenyuk noted that one of the demands put forth by the European Union to Ukraine was an end to political prosecutions. “This is the first point made by the European Union, that is, the release of Timoshenko. Like it or not, this decision has to be made. Allowing her to undergo medical treatment abroad will be the first step towards stopping political prosecutions,” he said, adding that “there is too little time left” for this issue to be solved. “Our future European integration depends on this. In other words, we expect a responsible political decision by the end of September as to whether Ukraine will sign the [association] agreement with the European Union or not,” Yatsenyuk said. At the same time, Valeria Lutkovskaya, the parliament’s human rights commissioner, believes that Timoshenko may be allowed to go to Germany for medical treatment only after the parliaments of the two countries have ratified the relevant interstate agreement. “At this point there are no grounds for the transfer of the convict who wants to receive medical care in a foreign state,” she said. “Any person can undergo medical treatment abroad only if there is a relevant interstate agreement. And since it will concern human rights and freedoms under our law on international treaties, it will have to be ratified by the parliament,” Lutkovskaya said. Timoshenko is now undergoing medical treatment at a hospital in Kharkov. She fell ill on August 18, 2011, two weeks after her arrest. Her defence lawyer Serei Vlasenko said “Yulia Timoshenko’s health has deteriorated and the reasons are unknown.” But Timoshenko mistrusts Ukrainian medics and rejected their help. She insists that she be examined and treated by independent medics. Timoshenko’s supporters demand that the Ukrainian authorities let her go to Germany for medical treatment. However this is prohibited by Ukrainian legislation. The opposition links Timoshenko’s release with the signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union. Some have even urged the EU to boycott the signing of the agreement at the upcoming Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius this November. Timoshenko was arrested on August 5, 2011 in the so-called “gas case” for “systematically obstructing the establishment of truth, breaking order during the court hearings, ignoring the judge’s instructions, delaying the process and showing disrespect for the court.” On April 30, 2013, the European Court of Human Rights said the verdict against Timoshenko was politically motivated and her rights had been violated. On August 1, 2013, Timoshenko’s lawyers filed an appeal to the Supreme Court through the Higher Specialised Court, requesting that the verdict in the so-called “gas case” be reviewed and annulled. However the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice insists that the ECHR judgment in the Timoshenko vs. Ukraine case has been complied with in full and entails no additional obligations for Ukraine. Vlasenko is adamant, however, that Ukraine had to release Timoshenko from prison in order to comply with the ECHR ruling in full. On October 11, 2011, Timoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison for having acted in excess of her powers which had resulted in damage to national interests. Timoshenko has also been barred from holding public positions for three years and has to pay a penalty of 189 million U.S. dollars in damages to Naftogaz Ukrainy. In late December 2011, Timoshenko was transferred from the investigation prison to a correctional facility in the eastern Kharkov region. Timoshenko is also facing new charges as former head of the Unified Energy Systems of Ukraine. On October 20, 2011, the Prosecutor General’s Office cancelled the decision to close the criminal case against Timoshenko in which she was charged with embezzlement of more than 25 million hryvnia (more than 10 million U.S. dollars at the exchange rate of 1995-1997, when Timoshenko headed the Unified Energy Systems of Ukraine), tax evasion in the amount of more than 20 million hryvnia by using a criminal financial scheme for settlements with the Unified Energy Systems of Ukraine for natural gas and by concealing incomes from the operations of her offshore company Somolli Enterprise Limited from taxation. Timoshenko may also be incriminated in the MP Yevgeny Shcherban assassination case in which she is alleged to be the mastermind of the crime and ex-Prime Minister Pvel Lazarenko its perpetrator. On January 18, 2013, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office provided Timoshenko with notice informing her that she was suspected of involvement in the killing of MP Shcherban. Prosecutor General Pshonka said Timoshenko might be sentenced to life imprisonment in this case. “Pre-trial investigation materials showing that Timoshenko made out a contract for that murder together with Lazarenko have been gathered,” Pshonka said. According to Pshonka, Timoshenko and Lazarenko paid 2.8 million U.S. dollars for Shcherban’s assassination.