Ukraine: Jailed Former Ukraine PM Starts Hunger Strike

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Jailed Former Ukraine PM Starts Hunger Strike

Ukraine's jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has launched a hunger strike.

Tymoshenko's lawyer, Serhiy Vlasenko, announced on April 24 that Tymoshenko began the strike on April 20.

He told journalists at the Kachaniv labor camp, where Tymoshenko is serving her seven-year prison term, that Tymoshenko sustained bruises on her hands and body after she was forcibly brought to the central clinic in Kharkiv on April 20.

According to Vlasenko, Tymoshenko is seriously ill and cannot get up from her bed.

He added that Tymoshenko started the hunger strike to protest "lawlessness in jail" and the situation in Ukraine.

Tymoshenko was convicted of abuse of power in October 2011, and says she is a victim of politically motivated repression by the government of her rival, President Viktor Yanukovych.

Based on reporting by AFP and Interfax