A Ukrainian court on Tuesday, Aug. 14, adjourned the tax evasion and embezzlement trial of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko until Sept. 11 after she refused to appear citing poor health.
The 51-year-old opposition leader is serving a seven-year
sentence on a separate charge of abuse of office linked to a gas
deal she brokered with Russia in 2009 while prime minister.
Her trial in Kharkiv for tax evasion and embezzlement going
back to alleged offences in the 1990s has been put off several
times since she has been unable to attend because of back
trouble for which she is receiving hospital treatment.
The court on Tuesday formally asked her to agree to a video
link from her hospital bed to enable the trial to take place.
She has refused such a suggestion in the past.
Tymoshenko, the fiercest political foe of President Viktor
Yanukovich, has dismissed all charges against her as politically
motivated and is challenging her initial conviction both locally
and in the European Court of Human Rights.
The European Union has supported Tymoshenko, calling her
case an example of selective justice and shelving key agreements
on free trade and political association with Ukraine.
Tymoshenko led the 2004 Orange Revolution protests that
derailed Yanukovich’s first bid for presidency, and served twice
as prime minister.
Yanukovich, who beat her in a close run-off to become
president in February 2010, has refused to intervene in Tymoshenko‘s prosecution despite being urged to do so by
Brussels.
A “guilty” verdict in the tax evasion case would keep Tymoshenko behind bars even if the European Court of Human
Rights eventually overturns her first conviction.
