Both Canada and Germany have been expressing concern that the arrest and subsequent conviction of Yulia Tymoshenko for abuse of power was suspect from the start. Back in August, Canada’s Foreign Minister John Baird said, “Canada is concerned by the apparently politically motivated persecution, and now arrest, of Yulia Tymoshenko. The appearance of political bias in judicial proceedings undermines the rule of law. Canada urges the Ukrainian government to strengthen judiciary independence and continues to support efforts to build a peaceful, democratic and prosperous society in Ukraine.” Tymoshenko is serving time in the Kachanivska penitentiary in Kharkiv. Although Tymoshenko has refused treatment by Ukrainian doctors, they say that she is suffering from intervertebral disc herniation, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

PHОТО: PHL

The spark for this renewed interest by the international community in the former prime minister and leader of the 2004 “Orange Revolution” came from her daughter, Yevhenia, who has spent the past several months traveling the world drumming up support for her mother. Tymoshenko first took ill on August 18 during her trial, and reportedly collapsed in her cell on December 6, complaining of severe pain. As reported by Kyiv Weekly, leading members of Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna Party have been lobbying the Canadian and German embassies in Ukraine since January for their countries to send independent medical experts to examine Tymoshenko. On January 26, Tymoshenko’s lawyers filed an appeal against her conviction.

The Canadians include general practitioners George Rewa and Peter Kujtan and obstetrician-gynecologist Christina Derzhko. The Germans include specialists from Charite - University Medicine Berlin as well as its chairman, neurologist Professor Karl Max Einhaeupl and traumatologist Professor Norbert Haas. Upon his arrival, Dr. Rewa said, “We are here for humanitarian reasons. We were very well received and we will conduct the study on a strictly scientific basis. We believe that the government will make conclusions from the results of this humanitarian mission.” In her turn, First Deputy Health Minister Raisa Moiseenko noted that committee members would conduct their examination only if Tymoshenko accepts. Dr. Kujtan said that for the examination he and his colleagues would follow the same principles as those in their homeland.

Since their arrival, the foreign doctors have been doing things by the book. On Monday they presented their credentials to the Prosecutor General’s Office and held meetings with the Health Ministry, State Penitentiary Service and Foreign Ministry. On Tuesday morning, these agencies confirmed the composition of the medical commission and flew into Kharkiv later that day. “The committee includes six Ukrainian specialists and five foreign doctors accredited by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry,” according to a joint communiqu?

Leading the commission is Moiseenko. “We have agreed that this will be a joint commission... but if Tymoshenko does not agree with the Ukrainian, Canadian, or German experts, or if she does not want to talk with them or permit the examination, it is not a problem,” Moiseenko added at a briefing in Kharkiv airport Tuesday morning. After meeting with prison officials, the commission announced that it would make its initial report on the condition of the prisoner in the second half of the day. However, as this issue went to print, Tymoshenko had refused to see the commission, reports Kommentari.