Tymoshenko allowed to see her party colleagues
Ukraine's ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is serving a term at a prison in Kharkiv, has been allowed as an exception to meet with her party colleagues Arseniy Yatseniuk, Hryhoriy Nemyria and Oleksandr Turchynov, the State Penitentiary Service's press service has reported.
"As Tymoshenko has a record of flagrant violations of prison regulations and requirements, and given that she has exhausted the limit of short visits due to her, the current visit will last not more than 90 minutes," the press service said.
During Tymoshenko's medical treatment at a hospital in Kharkiv, Tymoshenko was given more than 180 permissions to see different people, including representatives of the European Parliament, international figures, politicians and private citizens, the press service said. Tymoshenko had 37 meetings with her defense attorneys, including 14 with the Serhiy Vlasenko, six meetings with German doctors and thee with other visitors including the European Parliament's ex-president Pat Cox, Polish presidential aide Tadeusz Mazowiecki and the European Union's former ambassador to Ukraine Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira.
"Additionally we would like to note that by law, visits to an inmate who is undergoing medical treatment at a hospital are suspended. Only defense lawyers and medical personnel have the unrestricted right to see the inmate," the press service said.
German doctors from the Charite clinic said that frequent visits have a negative impact on Tymoshenko's rehabilitation, therefore the number of visits should be cut, they said, and the rehabilitation process should be given priority importance.
The prison administration had earlier not allowed Tymoshenko to see her party colleagues. In protest Tymoshenko lay down on the concrete floor. The State Penitentiary Service said Yatseniuk, Turchynov and Nemyria had staged provocations at the hospital, demanding that they be allowed to see Tymoshenko for a discussion.
