KIEV, December 16 (Itar-Tass) — The Kiev Court of Appeal has postponed the examination of the complaint of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko against her arrest in connection with a criminal case on financial violations in the United Energy Systems of Ukraine Corporation, of which she was the president in the 90s.
The court ruling was pronounced by Justice Tatiana Yefimova, who chaired the court session, several minutes after its beginning. Timoshenko’s supporters responded with shouting “shame.”
The Court of Appeal postponed the examination of the complaint, because Timoshenko did not attend the court session. The court collegium came to that conclusion after discussing a possibility of the continuation of the examination of the case, while the defendant was not present in the court room.
Sergey Vlasenko, Timoshenko’s lawyer, said that his client could not attend court sessions so far, because she did not feel well. In his opinion, her absence cannot be the reason for the refusal to examine the complaint. The court did not accept the reasoning of the counsel for the defense and stated that the court session could be continued in case of the presentation of a medical certificate about Timoshenko’s health condition.
The court will hold the next session on December 21.
On December 8, during a visiting session of the Shevchenko District Court, held in the prison cell of the investigation prison where Timoshenko is kept, it was decided that she would be kept in custody under the case on financial violations in the United Energy Systems of Ukraine Corporation. On October 11 she had been sentenced by the Pechersky District Court of Kiev to seven years of imprisonment for the abuse of office during the signing of the gas contracts with Russia.