KIEV, July 31 (RAPSI) - The final judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) permits the lawyers of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to seek review and quashing of the sentence in the gas case, attorney Sergei Vlasenko told journalists at a news conference on Wednesday.

On April 30, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held that the rights of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko to liberty and security, a speedy review of the lawfulness of detention, and compensation for unlawful detention, had been violated in connection with Tymoshenko's arrest and detention for abuse of power in Ukraine.

In April 2011, criminal proceedings were instituted against Tymoshenko based on her role in ordering the signature of gas supply contracts with Russia in 2009.

In October 2011, Tymoshenko was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison. On August 5, she was placed in the pre-trial detention facility in Kyiv (SIZO no. 13), where she remained until 30 December 2011. She was then transferred to the Kachanivska Correctional Colony in Kharkiv to serve her prison sentence. Since May 2012, she has been undergoing treatment in a hospital in Kharkov.

She turned to the ECHR on August 2011, claiming that her detention facilities had been inadequate and had lacked medical care appropriate to accommodate her various health problems, including - according to the judgment - chronic gastroenterological diseases and severe food allergies.

She further alleged that after the Court asked Ukrainian authorities to ensure proper medical treatment for Tymoshenko, she was transferred to the hospital against her will, causing her to sustain injuries that were not properly investigated. She added that while in the hospital, she was subjected to round-the-clock surveillance.

Finally, she claimed that her detention had been arbitrary and had been motivated by ulterior interests, and that she had lacked any enforceable right to compensation.

Specifically, she claimed that her rights were violated under the following sections of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention): Article 3, which prohibits degrading treatment or punishment; Article 5, which ensures the right to liberty and security; Article 8, which ensures the right to private life; and Article 18, which imposes limits on rights restrictions.

Ukrainian authorities deny the fact of the rights violation and political motivation of the criminal prosecution against Tymoshenko.