MUNICH, Feb 1 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian anti-government activist held captive for a week and severely beaten has been given permission to travel to the European Union for medical treatment, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Saturday.
"It is my information that he can leave the country tomorrow if he wants to," said Steinmeier, adding his Ukrainian counterpart Leonid Kozhara had informed him of this in a phone call.
He said Dimitri Bulatov could receive treatment in Germany if he wished.
Bulatov, 35, one of the leaders of anti-government protest motorcades in Kiev called 'Automaidan', reappeared on Thursday with his face disfigured and swollen, and with wounds to his hands.
He told Ukraine's Channel 5 television that he had been kidnapped a week earlier, and tortured and "crucified".
Bulatov is on a police wanted list on suspicion of taking part in "mass disorder" - which carries a sentence of up to eight years - linked to participation in the motorcades.
Opposition members have guarded Bulatov at his hospital bedside, saying they wanted to prevent police arresting him.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; writing by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
