The administration of the Kachanivska prison, on orders from the president’s administration, is violating Yulia Tymoshenko’s right to short visits with members of her party, according to the Official web site of Yulia Tymoshenko.
"Yulia Tymoshenko has the right to a meeting once a month, and despite this constitutionally guaranteed right, we received a rejection. Our colleagues, deputies, met with the leadership of the Kharkiv oblast prosecutor’s office, the penitentiary service, and the new leadership of the Kachanivska prison and demanded that they explain why we weren’t allowed to meet with Yulia Tymoshenko. We couldn’t get any explanations," said Oleksandr Turchynov, the first deputy head of the Batkivshchyna party.
He stressed that the prison service is deceiving the public by claiming that the meetings were denied because of doctors’ recommendations. "To the contrary, the German doctors advised Yulia Tymoshenko to meet more often with relatives, close friends, colleagues from her party. This would support her and give her more strength to recover. We were given no other medical or legal findings, because they don’t exist in nature," he said.
"Because they were committing a crime they behaved insecurely, hid behind doors and gates, were afraid to even open the door. We spoke through the intercom, while the doors to the unit where Yulia Tymoshenko’s security begins was guarded by police of ranks no lower than lieutenant colonel, who blocked the door. The police and the staff that were behind these doors understood that they’re committing a crime. But they continue to follow orders, as they’ve grown used to, from Bankova Street, the president’s administration, understanding that they’re violating the law and Constitution," stressed Oleksandr Turchynov.
He said they did manage to pass information about the election campaign to Yulia Tymoshenko through her lawyer.
In his turn, Deputy Head of Batkivshchyna Hryhoriy Nemyia, recalled that the last time Yulia Tymoshenko used her right to a short meeting was on August 11. "After that she hasn’t had any such meeting. Therefore, it’s obvious that today her rights and laws of Ukraine were violated through the unjustified refusal to allow her to meet with representatives and the leadership of the united opposition in the midst of the election campaign. It’s obvious that the further we get, the more the regime is afraid not only of the opposition, they’re afraid of their own citizens. They spoke to us through closed doors. The people were too afraid to come out and show their faces and identification. This wasn’t silence on the part of the prison officials. This was silence by President Yanukovych. But even through this silence there seemed to be grammatical errors," he said.
In September, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko asked the Kachanivska prison administration to allow her a short meeting with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, her party deputies Oleksandr Turchynov and Hryhoriy Nemyria, and Arseniy Yatseniuk. The request was written in accordance with Article 110 of the Penal Code, which states that any prison has the right once a month to have a short meeting with relatives, friends, etc., with no more than four people at once.
Yulia Tymoshenko’s last meeting was with EU Ambassador to Ukraine Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira on August 11, 2012.
