Democracy conference participants appeal to Ukraine's president to show mercy towards Yulia Tymoshenko

"We, the participants of the forum 'The Role of Parliamentarians in Strengthening Democracies in Eastern Europe: The Road to Democratic Societies,' are deeply concerned with the state of health of Yulia Tymoshenko, serving long imprisonment sentence. You have the authority to make decisions, based on human considerations, on providing Yulia Tymoshenko with treatment abroad. We believe that this humane action of yours will be positively seen not only in Ukraine but also worldwide. We believe in your goodwill," Chairman of the Lithuanian parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Emanuelis Zingeris, read out the statement at a press conference on Thursday.

Ukraine has recently come under criticism for its treatment of Tymoshenko in prison and is being urged to release the former prime minister.

The presidents of several European countries, including the Latvian and Estonian presidents, have recently refused to attend a summit in the Ukrainian Black Sea resort of Yalta. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė has not yet announced her plans.

Tymoshenko is serving a seven-year prison term for allegedly having exceeded her powers when signing a gas treaty with Russia in 2009.

The Parliamentary Forum for Democracy is holding an international conference at the Lithuanian parliament on Thursday where Eastern Partnership issues are being discussed, with United States Republican Senator and former presidential candidate John McCain, Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, Chairman of the Committee on European Integration of the Ukrainian parliament, Boris Tarasyuk, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Polish Sejm, Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz and Belarusian opposition leader Anatoliy Lebedko among the participants.