THE DAUGHTER of jailed Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko has told US congressmen she fears for her mother’s life and accused the Kiev government of preparing to rig October’s parliamentary election.
Yevgenia Tymoshenko addressed via video-link a hearing of the US House of Representatives on issues concerning Ukraine. This focused on the treatment of the former prime minister, who was jailed for seven years last October for abuse of office after a trial the EU and US say was politically motivated.
Ms Tymoshenko (51) is now in hospital for treatment for back problems and to recover from a 19-day hunger strike which she started in protest at alleged violent abuse by prison guards.
Officials loyal to Ms Tymoshenko’s main political rival, President Viktor Yanukovich, say she has not been mistreated in jail and have denounced threats from EU leaders to boycott matches in Ukraine during next month’s Euro 2012 football championship.
“I am very afraid for my mother’s life. The staff in the hospital where she is being treated are under strong pressure from the authorities,” Yevgenia Tymoshenko told congressmen, adding her mother was in “a critical situation . . . legally, politically, medically and in a humanitarian way”.
Her mother refused to be treated by Ukrainian medics, saying she did not trust them. Under pressure from Berlin, Kiev agreed to allow a German doctor to treat her in the presence of Ukrainian colleagues.
The German doctor and EU politicians who visited Ms Tymoshenko complained she is under constant surveillance by staff and video cameras, putting her under strain and making treatment difficult. Ukrainian officials insist she is receiving good care.
“We are just asking you please to keep the pressure on,” Yevgenia Tymoshenko told congressmen.
“Please don’t leave us alone, because in Ukraine there’s not enough power in people, not strong enough to fight against this injustice.”
She said the regime “has accumulated so much financial power via different schemes will use this financial resource to do anything possible to falsify the elections”. Ms Tymoshenko’s party is likely to be the main rival to Mr Yanukovich’s group in the October vote.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian prime minister Mykola Azarov told the European Parliament that Mr Yanukovich’s enemies were “unscrupulously misinforming and deluding” the West, and complained of the sharp deterioration in EU-Ukraine relations.
