Tymoshenko not allowed abroad

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov turned a deaf ear yesterday to calls to allow jailed ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko to receive medical treatment abroad, saying that Kiev has the “best” doctors for the job.

Saying the Tymoshenko case was “a temporary problem” in Ukraine’s ties with European Union nations, Mr Azarov accused the fiery former Orange Revolution leader of playing the “martyr” as Kiev faced “a slander campaign.”

Asked about offers from Germany and Russia to take the 51-year-old Tymoshenko in for medical care, the Premier said “she may enjoy the best medical assistance and advice of the best experts in Ukraine”.

“Her medical condition is perhaps the condition that millions of men and women in our country have, and we have all the necessary medical facilities... not everywhere, but there are medical centres which are unique in their kind,” Mr Azarov added.

The leader of the 2004 Orange Revolution was jailed for seven years in October on charges of abusing her powers as premier by agreeing a deal with Moscow for Russian gas imports to Ukraine.

Critics in the EU and elsewhere dubbed the trial new proof of “selective justice” against the opposition. Mrs Tymoshenko, who was moved from jail to hospital last week suffering back pain, resumed medical treatment on Tuesday after halting it the day before.