You're reading: Tymoshenko trial delayed again

KHARKIV - Jailed Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko's trial for tax evasion was adjourned again on Tuesday until January 18 as the former prime minister, hospitalised for back trouble, could not attend.

Tymoshenko, the main opponent of President Viktor
Yanukovich, was sentenced to seven years in prison in October
2011 on abuse-of-office charges. Her second trial, for alleged
tax evasion and embezzlement, was originally meant to commence
in April but has been repeatedly postponed.

The 52-year-old politician denies any wrongdoing and says
she is being persecuted by Yanukovich in revenge for her role in
the 2004 “Orange Revolution” protests which derailed his first
bid for presidency.

Tymoshenko has been in a state hospital since May, receiving
treatment for back pains.

On Tuesday, Judge Kostyantyn Sadovsky postponed the trial
again after Tymoshenko refused to attend.

“The trial is adjourned until January 18,” Sadovsky said.

The abuse-of-office charge for which Tymoshenko was jailed
stems from a gas deal she brokered with Russia in 2009 as prime
minister. The new tax evasion and embezzlement charges date back
to the 1990s when she ran a major gas trading company.

The European Union has supported Tymoshenko, calling her
case an example of selective justice, and shelved agreements on
free trade and political association with Ukraine over the
issue.