I suppose that it was inevitable - sooner or later reports about the possible poisoning of former PM Yulia Tymoshenko, who is now encarcerated in a penal colony near Kharkiv, would emerge. One 'expert' toxicologist now considers she may be being poisoned with thallium [as favoured by the Russian FSB..]
It is not unreasonable to consider that something peculiar did occur on 6th January over the Orthodox Christmas period, when she apparently lost consciousness after taking medication and was quickly taken to hospital by ambulance for scans and tests. It is unlikely such a turn of events would have been preplanned by the authorities.
Tymoshenko's daughter Yevheniya is currently publicising her mother's predicament in Western Europe - and providing good copy for the media.
Until the former PM is examined by independent foreign physicians the allegations of maltreatment and denial of proper medical care, etc. etc. will continue...this will eventually dawn on Yanukovych and his spin doctors..
Many Ukrainians will take a jaundiced view of the shenanigans surrounding Tymoshenko, which may be a diversionary tactic designed to make citizens think less about their worsening economic situation, but in Europe...everyone remembers Yushchenko's face...Lytvynenko..and will think...on top of a most dubious trial?...hmmm...
Update: Just a few hours after reports of alleged poisoning of Yulia T. the Prosecutor General's office say they will permit foreign medical experts to examine Tymoshenko...However,
in Ukraine the gap between declarations and realisations is often infinite..And just as in the Yushchenko poisoning so many false trails are laid, allegations and counter-allegations made that getting to the truth is impossible.
Today that bad joke of a deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin threatened to open a criminal case against former president Yushchenko if it is found that his blood samples were falsified..
The problem is Tymsohenko has cried wolf so many times it is very difficult for Ukrainians to take her seriously. That said she should not be imprisoned anyway. The only reason she is is due to Viktor Yushchenko. It was Yushchenko who initiated the charges against Tymoshenko.
ReplyDeleteYushchenko himself is the subject of allegations of poisoning, allegations that are seriously under question. Its been six years, five of which Yushchenko was President, and the allegations about Yushchenko's poisoning have not have not been subject of a judicial review and Yushchenko has refused to provide blood samples for independent analysis and review. Raising further doubts as to the veracity of his claim. It was reported that the initial samples provided to European laboratories was sent to Europe via the USA.
The fact is you can not take anything that comes out of Ukraine via the media as being something of serious substance. Everything has to be taken with a grain of salt and questioned.
It is not only Tymoshenko that cannot be taken seriously - she's just trying her best to get out of jail..Law enforcement agencies, judiciary are highly suspect too and are beholden to political masters. As a Western observer, I think it is nevertheless possible to observe clear trends - the country is becoming more authoritarian and a small coterie of extremely wealthy guys who became rich in opaque circumstances are tightening their grip since Yanukovych became president. The political future is highly unstable because the popularity of the ruling authorities is in decline.
ReplyDeleteAs for Yushchenko I would say that most likely he was poisoned, but many false stories and trails have been laid. "You pay your money and you take your choice..as they say.."
ps Ruskies say Lyvynenko's death was nothing to do with them either..Yuriy Shchekhochikhin? don't know anything about that etc. etc.
Over fifty big-shot businessmen murdered in Donbas in the mid-nineties? All lies...never happened..who were the the local prosecutors and law enforcement officals there at that time : Where are they now?
In case you missed it..
ReplyDeletehttp://en.for-ua.com/news/2012/01/18/163054.html
18 January 2012
Deputy Prosecutor: Yushchenko's poisoning was invented by his staff
MP David Zhvania told us that the scandal around poisoning former president Viktor Yushchenko in 2004 was an idea of Yushchenko's election campaign staff, Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin said in an interview with NBN.
"Zhvania testified that nobody poisoned Yushchenko, that there was no poisoning at all and that this entire story was invented by Yushchenko's election campaign staff in order to win the election accusing then authorities of poisoning," Kuzmin said.
"Zhvania also said that he was against this idea. He says, he tried to explain that this lie would be eventual revealed that it was too cynical to lie to the whole world. After that he was excluded from the staff," the official added.
According to the Deputy prosecutor General, many witnesses state that Yushchenko was poisoned and believe in this, while the others assure it was a fraud. "That's why we asked Yushchenko to take a blood test again," Kuzmin said.
On September 5, 2004 Viktor Yushchenko, then candidate for presidency, met with Security Service authorities, after which he felt bad. On September 10 he was hospitalized to Vienna clinic for examination, which revealed that Yushchenko was poisoned by dioxin. Repeated examination in May 2006 confirmed the presence of dioxin in Yushchenko's organism.
In November 2009 the temporary investigative commission of the parliament declared the necessity to change the composition of the investigation group of prosecution and to hold new tests in order to prove the version of poisoning.
After his appointment on the post of Prosecutor General (November 2010) Viktor Pshonka repeatedly confirmed his intention to take additional test of Yushchenko's blood in Ukrainian lab, but Viktor Yushchenko refused. The former President declared he would agree to take a blood test in the national lab only if the Prosecution had solid reasons.
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Today that bad joke of a deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin threatened to open a criminal case against former president Yushchenko if it is found that his blood samples were falsified..
ReplyDeleteHmm it's possible he might even be right on this one. But then how on earth could he prove they were falsified. His credibility being scuh that nobody would be convinced excepting those who already think that the poisoning was invented. The only way he could convince anybody is to let a foreign lab do this tests as Yush is asking. But then he'd have to believe himself that the poisoning really was a fake. (Unless it were possible to inject a very small dose of dioxin into the "victim" a few years later?)