A video of the jailed Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia V. Tymoshenko lying in a prison bed has drawn fire from her lawyer after it was shown on national television and posted on the Internet.
“When a sick person is unable to stand up and asks not to be filmed,” her lawyer, Serhiy Vlasenko, told the English-language daily Kiev Post, “these are unlawful actions.” He said that Ms. Tymoshenko’s health had been deteriorating.
The Ukrainian government has said that it is holding her in comfortable conditions in a prison medical wing.
Ms. Tymoshenko, sentenced in October to seven years for abuse of office, is appealing her conviction, widely seen as politically motivated, but is unlikely to be freed; she was formally rearrested last week on new charges of tax evasion and theft of government funds.
The brief video
,
which was posted to a YouTube account that contains no other content
and was created on Tuesday, begins with what appear to be prison staff
entering a cell. The camera, which remains in the doorway, then captures
Ms. Tymoshenko lying in a bed from a distance. She gesticulates in
apparent anger on seeing the camera and speaks, but her words are
inaudible.The video then cuts to an empty bed but similarly appointed room, apparently to show various shots of the amenities provided, including a flat-screen television, air conditioning and a private bath.
During that part of the video, Reuters reported that Ms. Tymoshenko can be heard saying, “I was being kept before in unacceptable conditions, and I don’t want you to show this false picture now.”
Prison officials have denied shooting the video, the Kiev Post reported.
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