KIEV, Aug. 18 – A judge on Thursday declined a request from imprisoned Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to be seen by a doctor she can trust after apparently developing mysterious skin symptoms.

Tymoshneko, the most popular opposition figure in Ukraine, was arrested August 5 as she is being tried in a Kiev court for negotiating a controversial natural gas agreement with Russia in January 2009.

Tymoshenko two days ago requested to be seen by her doctor after developing what her defense lawyer Yuriy Sukhov had described on Thursday as “alarming symptoms.”

“Yulia Volodymyrivna is an adult person,” Sukhov said requesting the judge to grant the doctor appointment. “She had some illnesses and knows her organism. She said these symptoms are not like any symptoms of illnesses she would usually have.”

Oleksandr Turchynov, the No. 2 in Tymoshenko’s Batkivshcyna party, said the situation was serious.

“Tymoshenko’s life is in danger,” Turchynov wrote on his Twitter account. “Bruises appeared all over her body apparently caused by broken blood vessels. Our requests for blood work to be done were left unanswered.”

Judge Rodion Kireyev, after ignoring the request for two days, on Thursday declined it on grounds that Tymoshenko had refused to be seen by prison doctors.

Earlier in the day Kireyev granted Tymoshenko a 10-minute break in the court session after she, looking pale, had requested an urgent break. The session resumed shortly afterwards after Tymoshenko told Kireyev she could handle it.

Prosecutors in the case, apparently concerned by the developments, asked the court to allow Tymoshenko to be seen in prison by doctors from the Healthcare Ministry.

But Tymoshenko flatly refused to be seen by prison doctors or any other doctors that she cannot trust, alleging that this may be a plot by President Viktor Yanukovych.

“Knowing who I am dealing with, and what our authorities are capable of doing, I will never agree to be seen by people sent by Yanukovych,” Tymoshenko said.

“I categorically refuse to accept any medical help from representatives of the authorities,” Tymoshenko said. “I insist on having access to a doctor I trust.” (tl/ez)