US Group Visits Ukraine’s Ex-PM, Ex-Interior Minister

(RFE/RL) - The US-based democracy-advocacy group Freedom House has said after meeting Ukraine’s jailed former Prime Minister that it’s seriously concerned for her health. Freedom House envoy Damon Wilson said Yulia Tymoshenko was unable to sit or stand and had to lie in bed at Kharkiv’s Kachanivska prison during the delegation’s entire visit on April 4. Wilson said receiving proper medical care was the most critical issue for Tymoshenko. He expressed concerns Tymoshenko was not receiving adequate medical care from prison doctors.

On April 3, Freedom House officials visited jailed former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko. By next day, Lutsenko was examined by medical doctors at the Kyiv prison where he is jailed. Prison officials say his state of health also will be assessed by medical personnel outside of jail, at a Kyiv city clinic, in the near future.

Lutsenko was sentenced in February to four years in prison on charges of embezzlement and abuse of office.

Both Tymoshenko and Lutsenko pleaded not guilty in their trials, saying they were victims of political persecution. Their convictions have been condemned by the United States and European Union as politically motivated. (Reporting by Itar-TASS and Interfax)