Tymoshenko Tax Evasion Trial Postponed Again

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko

A court in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine has again postponed the tax evasion trial of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

On February 12, Judge Konstyantyn Sadivskyy rescheduled the trial for March 5, citing the absence of the defendant and her lawyer from the courtroom.

The sessions have been postponed numerous times in recent months because Tymoshenko says she is too ill to attend.

The trial focuses on allegations that Tymoshenko evaded millions of U.S. dollars in taxes in connection with a private energy company she headed during the 1990s.

Some 200 supporters of Tymoshenko gathered outside the courtroom in Kharkiv before the trial was postponed.

Tymoshenko denies any wrongdoing, saying all the charges against her are politically motivated.

She is already serving a seven-year sentence for a separate abuse of office conviction.

Based on reporting by Interfax and UNIAN