Tymoshenko refuses to go Kyiv, participate in Scherban case hearing via video linkup, says prison service
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has refused to attend in person a court hearing at the Court of Appeals in Kyiv, during which a witness on the criminal case on the murder of Ukrainian parliamentarian Yevhen Scherban is to be interrogated on March 4.
Tymoshenko refused from both the transportation to Kyiv and participation in the court hearing via a video linkup, the press service of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine has said on Monday.
"Employees of the penal colony were ready to inform the convict about the conditions and time of her transportation. However, the results of the conversation did not differ much from the previous attempts of the prison employees to ask the convict about her opinion on transportation [to Kyiv]," reads the statement.
"Tymoshenko's answers and the result of the conversation show that she does not want to be taken [to Kyiv]," the prison service said.
According to the statement, the ex-premier once again recalled that she is in poor health condition and demanded that the prison service take into account conclusions of her German doctors.
In addition, Tymoshenko categorically refused to participate in the court hearing via a video linkup.
As reported, the interrogation of another witness on the Scherban murder case was scheduled for March 4 in Kyiv. Tymoshenko is a suspect in the case.
Tymoshenko has stated numerous times that she wants to participate in the interrogation in person. However, under Article 138 of the Criminal Procedure Code, while being hospitalized a convict cannot participate in investigatory and court proceedings.
On Sunday, March 3, the prison service stated that Tymoshenko continues to pretend that she wants to be taken to Kyiv.
On Sunday night, an ambulance car, three highway patrol cars, a minibus, and a prisoner transport vehicle left the territory of Kharkiv-based Central Clinical Hospital No. 5, where Tymoshenko is undergoing treatment. Later on, an informed source said that Tymoshenko was not in the ambulance car.
