Ukraine ex-PM’s tax evasion trial adjourned for 20th time
KYIV, July 5 (Xinhua) — A Ukrainian court in the eastern city of Kharkov adjourned the tax evasion and embezzlement trial of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko for the 20th time Friday after she refused to attend the court due to poor health.
Judge Kostyantyn Sadovsky said it would be impossible to conduct hearings in the absence of Tymoshenko and her lawyer and set a new date of Aug. 16.
Tymoshenko, who is serving a seven-year jail sentence for abusing her powers as prime minister during signing gas deal with Russia in 2009, faces charges of embezzling an estimated 405 million U.S. dollars and evading tax worth more than 87,000 dollars in the 1990s.
The former prime minister is currently obtaining treatment for chronic back trouble at an out-of-prison health center in Kharkov. Reportedly she has been diagnosed with a spinal disc herniation.
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