Die Zeit: Dirty Tricks against Tymoshenko

Yulia Tymoshenko with her husband Oleksander and daughter Yevhenia.  Oleksandr Tymoshenko has been granted political asylum in the Czech Republic

The German newspaper Die Zeit reports that hackers have posted 5, 132 supposed emails from the imprisoned former Prime Minister’s daughter Yevhenia Tymoshenko here zhuzhaleaks.com.  

Material on the site includes something purporting to be a plan for Yulia Tymoshenko’s treatment by doctors from the Charité Clinic for back pain.  The supposed email has Yevhenia Tymoshenko saying that if she has understood correctly, the Tymoshenko family owes a further 480 thousand EUR over the 200 thousand paid already, with the Charité Head Karl Max Einhäupt replying “that is correct”.

Die Zeit notes that “680 thousand EUR for a 4-week course of treatment? That sounds less like treatment than like a bribe in this so politically sensitive illness. “ It goes on to say that “the real Professor Einhäupt” told the newspaper that the figure quote was an “absurd fantasy”. “We want to help a patient and have therefore strictly focused on her medical condition and not on the political circumstances”.

He calls the supposed bill a primitive fake among some well done cons.  The “bill” can be seen at http://zhuzhaleaks.com/index.php?m=2863

“What the hackers pass off as “leaks” and as “our journalist investigations” is in the view of Tymoshenko’s lawyer Serhiy Vlasenko “a mixture of real and fake emails”. Professor Einhäupt” confirms that some material is authentic but distorted through a few added words or sentences which he says give them a totally different meaning. 

The Clinic is looking into legal action against the hackers.

Die Zeit reminds its readers that Ms Tymoshenko was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment over the 2009 gas accords with Russia in a trial condemned as politically motivated by the EU, the German government and the US.  This, it says, served to put Yanukovych’s main rival out of action. The newspaper points out that since then there has been a legal, political and media fight on both within Ukraine and abroad directed against the opposition politician’s significance.

Serhiy Vlasenko sees the hacker attack as an offensive by the regime aimed at influencing public opinion.  He is convinced that the offensive has been run by the SBU [Security Service] and says that through official means he has learned that the site is registered in the name of a person from Kyiv.  He says that the opposition cannot protect themselves against such attacks and believes it pointless to attempt legal measures in Ukraine.

Yevhenia Tymoshenko reported back in summer that her email accounts had been hacked.  She also accuses Yanukovych’s regime of being behind this.

Die Zeit notes that the aim is clearly to discredit Tymoshenko both in Ukraine and abroad, and says that this is not so difficult since, like those now after her, during the 1990s she also resorted to extremely questionable methods.

The same side publishes material supposedly exposing members of the “Tymoshenko clan”.  The newspaper adds that the Ukrainian media do not ask questions about the authenticity of the material.

The reaction however over the New Year and Orthodox Christmas was “amazingly restrained” even from publications close to the regime.

Die Zeit says that other associates of Tymoshenko have also faced persecution with “over two dozen opposition politicians in prison and reports that Vlasenko calls  former Deputy Prime Minister Hryhory Nemyrya another victim of the “Falsified leaks”.

Tymoshenko’s opponents are also targeting the issue of foreign support.  The hackers posted information which claims that the Tymoshenko clan spent 85 thousand US on pushing a US Senate resolution demanding Yulia Tymoshenko’s release.