Former Ukrainian Prime Minister and Batkivschyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko has again refused to stand while speaking in court, following another demand made by the presiding judge, Rodion Kireyev.
"I won’t stand up. This is my position, rather than a sign of disrespect for the court, because there is no fair trial here," she said at a meeting of the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv on Monday.
The judge told the former prime minister that she was in contempt of court. She, in turn, replied: "This is my position, rather than [a sign of] disrespect for the court."
Tymoshenko also refused to answer requests from the judge to confirm her identity. She said that he had already answered all of the questions asked by the judge.
"Do not argue with the court," Kireyev said.
An Interfax-Ukraine reporter said that Tymoshenko’s defence lawyer Serhiy Vlasenko was absent in the courtroom on Monday but that her second lawyer, Mykola Tytarenko, was present at the court session.
