Trial of ex-Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko delayed again
Kyiv, March 22 (Xinhua-ANI): The trial of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko for tax evasion was adjourned on Friday until April 12 after the jailed opposition leader’s non-appearance due to back pain.
This was the 15th postponement in the case of Tymoshenko, who is receiving treatment at a health center in the eastern city of Kharkiv.
Tymoshenko, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in October 2011 for abusing power in a natural gas deal with Russia in 2009, has been charged with embezzling an estimated 405 million U.S. dollars and evading tax worth more than 87,000 dollars in the 1990s.
Tymoshenko has denied all the charges, saying they are politically motivated, and demanded the court close the tax evasion case due to lack of evidence. (Xinhua-ANI)