Tymoshenko tax-evasion trial postponed till after Euro 2012
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
25.06.2012 15:17
Former Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski was in a Kharkiv court Monday, as an EU envoy, when the judge adjourned a tax-evasion trial of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko until mid-July.
photo - Aleksander Prokopenko tymoshenko.ua (archives)
Kwasniewski is being accompanied as special EU envoy by former European President Pat Cox to oversee the trail of Tymoshenko, who was given a seven-year prison term last December for “abuse of power” as prime minister in 2008, when concluding an energy deal with Russia.
Judge Kostyantyn Sadovsky adjourned further hearings into the tax evasion case, involving alleged embezzlement charges dating back to the 1990s, until July 10, at the request of state prosecutors.
The judge also ordered a medical examination of Tymoshenko, aged 51, - who is suffering from chronic back pain - in order to establish whether she is fit to attend her own trial.
Tymoshenko, one of the heroes of the so-called democratic Orange Revolution in Ukraine, is also appealing against her seven-year prison term.
Before entering court today, Kwasniewski and Cox spoke briefly with Tymoshenko’s supporters.
The EU emissaries refused to talk to journalists however, saying that they would not give any comments until the end of the trial, Interfax-Ukraine reports. (pg)