Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has for the ninth time refused to participate in a hearing of the case of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine (UESU) Corporation in Kharkiv October 15, the press office of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine has reported.
“The leadership of Kachanivska Penal Colony No. 54 has received a
request from the Kyivsky District Court of Kharkiv to invite prisoner
Tymoshenko to participate in the court hearing scheduled for October 15.
The prisoner was informed of the receipt of the request. In response,
Tymoshenko informed the leadership of the institution in writing about
her refusal to participate in the court session,” the press office said
on Friday.
The report says that this was Tymoshenko’s ninth consecutive refusal to attend courts hearings on the UESU case in Kharkiv.
The court was informed in writing about the prisoner’s refusal to participate in the hearing.
On Oct. 11, 2011, Pechersky District Court in Kyiv sentenced
Tymoshenko to seven years in prison for overstepping her authority when
signing 2009 gas contracts with Russia. She has served her sentence in
Kachanivska Penal Colony in Kharkiv since late December 2011.
On May 9, Tymoshenko was transferred to Central Clinical Hospital No. 5 in Kharkiv for a treatment course.
The Kyivsky District Court of Kharkiv is hearing the case of
Tymoshenko, who is suspected of fraud while she was the UESU’s head.
Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka said that the UESU case of Tymoshenko
was closed illegally in 2005 under the pressure of the then President
Viktor Yuschenko immediately after Tymoshenko’s appointment as prime
minister.
