No probe into Tymoshenko allegations: Kyiv
KYIV Ukraine rejected a demand on Friday from jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko for a criminal probe into what she calls severe beatings at the hands of prison guards – claims, which alarmed western leaders who view her as a political prisoner.
Tymoshenko – who is on hunger strike and has complained for months of crippling back pain but refused treatment from Ukrainian medics – has agreed to accept treatment from a German doctor at a Ukrainian hospital, a doctor who saw her said.
The case has embittered Ukraine’s relationship with the EU weeks before it co-hosts the continent’s soccer championship, a prestige event that was meant to be a showcase for the ex-Soviet state’s dreams of European integration.
Tymoshenko, 51, says she is the victim of a vendetta by her rival, President Viktor Yanukovich. Last week she said prison guards had beaten her during a forced visit to a hospital. Her supporters circulated photographs showing bruises on her arms and abdomen.
The allegations revived outrage in the West over her plight, which some European politicians say reflects a decline in democratic standards in the former Soviet republic since Yanukovich came to power in February 2010.
Prosecutor general Viktor Pshonka said on Friday his office had been unable to verify Tymoshenko’s claims of physical mistreatment and he refused to open a criminal inquiry.
“Following an investigation, the request to launch a criminal case has been denied,” he said.
Tymoshenko has said that she cannot trust Ukrainian doctors because they work for the authorities.
After seeing Tymoshenko in prison in the eastern Ukraine city of Kharkiv, Doctor Karl Max Einhaupl of Berlin’s Charite clinic said she had “provisionally agreed” to be treated by one of his colleagues in a local hospital starting from May 8.
Some European politicians have cancelled plans to visit Ukraine on May 11 for a gathering on Central European issues in the southern resort of Yalta.
Leaders are also threatening to boycott the ceremonial opening of next month’s Euro-2012 soccer championship, a month-long event, which Ukraine is co-hosting with Poland.