EU protests Ukraine’s treatment of ex-premier
BRUSSELS—THE European Union pressed Ukraine on Thursday to allow “independent medical specialists” to visit the country’s jailed former prime minister, Yulia V. Tymoshenko, after she claimed to have been beaten by prison guards last week.
Adding to the diplomatic pressure, the German president, Joachim Gauck, confirmed on Thursday that he would not travel to Ukraine next month to attend a meeting of Central European presidents because of concerns over Tymoshenko’s treatment. And the Russian Foreign Ministry, in an unusual move, called on the Ukrainian authorities to “demonstrate humanity” toward Tymoshenko.
Tymoshenko, 51, went on a hunger strike last Friday after being forcibly removed from her prison cell and taken to a hospital, according to her lawyer. In a statement published on her website on Tuesday, Tymoshenko, who suffers from chronic back pain, said she refused treatment and was returned to prison on Sunday, covered with bruises.
The authorities in the Kharkov region, where Tymoshenko is imprisoned, have said there was no evidence that she had been beaten. Faced with the growing international criticism, President Viktor F. Yanukovich said on Thursday that he had ordered a thor- ough investigation into Tymoshenko’s allegations, The Associated Press reported.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, urged the Ukrainian authorities to allow the EU ambassador in Ukraine, Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira, to visit Tymoshenko in prison “as a sign of their political will to clarify the situation.” He should be allowed to take an independent medical team and stood ready to go “at the earliest opportunity,” Ashton said.
In Moscow, the Foreign Ministry said it also understood that Tymoshenko “needs urgent medical assistance,” the Interfax news agency reported.
“We are hoping that the Ukrainian authorities will take all necessary measures to fully respect the statutory rights of Mrs. Tymoshenko, demonstrate humanity and find ways of adequate response not exacerbating the domestic situation to resolve the current situation,” the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Alexandr Lukashevich, said.
Ukraine has responded to an earlier German offer to send Tymoshenko to Germany for medical treatment by asking instead for German doctors to participate in her treatment in Ukraine. The German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, said on Wednesday that he was considering the request.
Tymoshenko’s allies accuse Yanukovich, who barely defeated Tymoshenko in the 2010 presi- dential election, of orchestrating her subsequent arrest to remove a potential rival.
The diplomatic slap from Gauck was a relatively uncommon move: The last time a German president called off a foreign trip was in February 2011, when Christian Wulff, then the president, canceled a trip to Bahrain because of the violent crackdown there by security forces on demonstrators.
Gauck’s spokesperson, Andreas Schulze, told reporters in Berlin that Gauck, whose post is mostly symbolic, had consulted closely with the German government but that the decision not to go was Gauck’s. He said Gauck had not yet decided whether to attend the Euro 2012 soccer championship, which starts in June. The German team’s first three matches will be played in Ukraine, which is cohosting the tournament with Poland.
The European Union already has vowed to delay ratification of an association and free-trade agreement with Ukraine—one of Yanukovich’s major policy goals—until Tymoshenko is released from prison.