You're reading: Prosecutor: Tymoshenko afraid of UESU trial ‘like fire’

KHARKIV - Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is afraid of the UESU trial "like fire," so she has not appeared in court for a very long time, state prosecutor Maryna Kapinos has said.

“There’s an impression that the defendant is as afraid of the trial
as she is of fire, so she has not appeared in court for such a long
time. This is a sign of the desire to avoid criminal liability,” she
told reporters after a court hearing in Kharkiv on Friday.

She said that the situation in this case remained unchanged.

“The situation has not currently changed. The court was forced to
again postpone the trial due to the absence of the defendant, who has
not appeared in court for more than nine months, does not want to answer
questions from prosecutors, does not want to answer questions from the
court, and does not want to give any explanations on the materials of
the criminal case,” the prosecutor said.

Tymoshenko is charged under five counts in the UESU case – the
organization of the appropriation of public funds of an especially large
amount in 1997-1998 via illicitly receiving value added tax (VAT) (Part
3 of Article 27, Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of
Ukraine), attempting to appropriate public funds of an especially large
amount in 1997-1998 via illicitly receiving VAT (Part 3 of Article 27,
Part 2 of Article 15, Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code), tax
evasion by the UESU Corporation (Part 3 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article
212 of the Criminal Code), the non-payment of income tax (Part 3 of
Article 212 of the Criminal Code), and committing a crime via official
forgery (Part 3 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 366 of the Criminal
Code).