Ukraine’s Tymoshenko Ends Hunger Strike

Posted November 15th, 2012 at 3:35 pm (UTC-5)
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Jailed Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko is ending the hunger strike she began in protest of alleged fraud in the country's recent elections.

Ukraine's deputy health minister, Raissa Moissenko, says Ms. Tymoshenko agreed to end her 17-day hunger strike on Thursday, after meeting with a group of German doctors at her hospital in Kharkiv.

The opposition leader and former prime minister began her strike on October 29 to protest alleged vote-rigging in the parliamentary elections the day before. International election observers and the U.S. government have also criticized the vote.

Ms. Tymoshenko is currently serving a seven-year prison term for abuse of office, charges she says are the result of President Viktor Yanukovych's efforts to eliminate her as a political rival.