Medical leave

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Tuesday said he would allow jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko to be temporarily released to get medical treatment.

A Ukrainian human rights monitor said Monday that 50-year-old Tymoshenko, sentenced to seven years in prison last month for abuse of office, was bed-ridden because of severe back pain. Ukraine's rights ombudsman Nina Karpacheva said after an unannounced visit on Sunday that Tymoshenko's condition was "extremely serious."

Yanukovych told reporters on Tuesday that he was told the prison health care system "is not up to the required standards. So this treatment or medical services will have to be provided in medical institutions in Kiev in the coming days, either today or tomorrow."

Tymoshenko was convicted of abusing her office as prime minister for a gas contract she negotiated with Russia, which Yanukovych says left Ukraine paying inflated prices. She denounced the charges as attempts to silence the opposition, and her trial was heavily criticized by the European Union and the United States.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, who was visiting Ukraine on Tuesday, sent a warning from the EU that Ukraine could not continue its current behavior.

"Europe was shocked by the decision taken by the court about the opposition leader," she said. "In Europe, the opinion prevails that Tymoshenko and her colleagues are the victims of a process of political neutralization."

Author: Andrew Bowen (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Michael Lawton