European Court of Human Rights Rules Tymoshenko is Well Treated in Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine, June 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The European Court of Human Rights has found that jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is receiving "adequate medical treatment in an appropriate institution" in a judgement the Ukrainian Government says vindicates its role despite "near hysterical claims".

In March this year the court made an interim measure asking the Government of Ukraine to ensure she receives appropriate treatment and that it answers a series of  questions about her health and detention.

The Government's cooperation with the court has now led to the measure being lifted - a vindication of the Ukrainian Government and the Prison Authorities in Kharkiv where she is being detained.

A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman said "if you read this judgment today you'll find it could not be more emphatic".

"The court notes that Tymoshenko had complained she had 'no medical care' for her 'numerous health problems' yet the court confirms that between April 13th and 15th the independent German doctors she requested examined her at a hospital outside the prison," he said.

The court judgement also deals with her 20-day hunger strike and the bruises she received as she struggled during transfer from prison to that outside hospital, the Central Clinical Hospital of the State Railway in Kharkiv.

"The European Court covered all these sensitive issues and still, it found in favour of the Ukrainian Government," the spokesman said.

"We hope this will end these near hysterical claims about Yulia Tymoshenko that have been accepted as fact by the media but not the European Court of Human Rights," the spokesman concluded.

In October last year Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison for exceeding her authority as Prime Minister in concluding a gas deal with Russia that continues to make Ukrainians pays over the odds for their energy needs.

In December last year the ECHR contacted the Ukrainian Government over the case brought by Tymoshenko and in the months since then, the Government has fully cooperated with the enquiry into her treatment in prison and her state of health.

The court remains seized of the matter and the parties involved now have the chance to make written responses to today's judgement.