Kyiv's Pechersky District Court Judge Rodion Kireyev, who is presiding over the trial of former Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko, has started reading the testimony given by Tymoshenko during the investigation.
As reported by an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent, Kireyev again refused to give Tymoshenko and her defense two days for preparation for interrogation in court and start interrogating the accused after considering all petitions of the defense. Kireyev stressed that Tymoshenko had been given enough time to prepare.
"The accused, in fact, refused to testify," the judge said, while Tymoshenko claimed that she never refused to give evidence, but she needs more time for preparations.
"I will consider that I was deprived of the right to give evidence," the former premier said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the judge decided not to question a second expert from the Kyiv Forensic Research Institute, Yuriy Maslak.
The court received a letter from the clinic in which Maslak is undergoing treatment, which reads that the expert would continue his treatment for two more weeks.
Tymoshenko claimed that the state prosecution "was consciously sheltering" Maslak, to prevent him from giving false testimony in court.
