Germany appeals to Ukraine release Tymoshenko

German chancellor Angela Merkel has joined a group of her country’s doctors by saying Ukraine’s Yulia Tymoshenko would be better treated in Germany.

The former Ukrainian prime minister has released photos of the bruises she says she received after her jailers beat her on Friday.

The doctors, who have examined Tymoshenko, say she has a number of concerns.

“One of the most important arguments is that she doesn’t want to accept any injections and she refuses to give blood samples. This led to confusion why she did not want to do this. She says that the former Minister of Interior Affairs got infected with hepatitis in jail,” said Professor Karl Max Einhäupl of Berlin’s Charity hospital.

Tymoshenko, who has chronic back pain with at least one slipped disc, has been on hunger strike since her alleged beating, and protests are growing on the streets at her treatment.

In prison since last August, in October Tymoshenko was found guilty in what she says was a political trial of abuse of power and sentenced to seven years. She and her supporters insist it was an act of revenge by President Viktor Yanukovich, who narrowly beat her to win the 2010 presidential election.

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