Freed Ukraine Opposition Leader to Have Treatment in Germany

Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko is seen in a wheelchair in Kyiv's Independence Square Feb. 22, 2014.

Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko has accepted an invitation from Chancellor Angela Merkel to be treated for a back problem in Germany, a decision made possible by the ouster of Yanukovych as president, her party said on Monday.

Hours after the removal of her bitter rival on Saturday, the former prime minister was released from a prison hospital, where she was being held under guard for most of the time since she was convicted of abuse of office in 2011. Her supporters and many in the West viewed her conviction as politically motivated.

Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna party announced her decision on its website. It said the 53-year-old would go to Berlin's Charite Hospital after attending a meeting of the European People's Party (EEP) but gave no further details. The EPP is due to meet in Dublin on March 6-7.

Tymoshenko, who addressed anti-Yanukovych protesters on Kyiv's Independence Square from a wheelchair on Saturday evening, has not said what her plans are. But she is widely expected to run in a presidential election on May 25.