Imprisoned former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is refusing to attend a new trial for tax evasion, citing problems with her health.
Tymoshenko, who is said to have been suffering months of back pain, asked the court to hold its preliminary hearing on April 19 in her absence.
She denies wrongdoing as head of a gas trading company in the 1990s. She is serving seven years in prison for abuse of office, a conviction which caused dismay in the West. The new trial is being held in the eastern city of Kharkiv, where she is serving her sentence.
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