Tymoshenko summoned for court hearing in financial fraud case

PanARMENIAN.Net - Jailed Ukrainian ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has been summoned for a June 25 court hearing in which she is accused of financial fraud during her tenure as head of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine corporation in the 1990s, the Ukrainian penitentiary authority said on Tuesday, June 19, RIA Novosti said.

A summons letter has been received by management of the Kachanovskaya Penal Colony in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkov, where Tymoshenko has been jailed, a statement said.

The opposition heroine of Ukraine's 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution was found guilty of abusing her power by pushing through a 2009 gas deal with Russia in a controversial trial in October 2011 and sentenced to seven years behind bars. Her trial was condemned by Russia and Western governments as politically motivated.

Tymoshenko has repeatedly refused to take part in court hearings into the fraud case, citing poor health. She has been suffering from severe back pain and received medical treatment in a local hospital.

The Ukrainian Health Ministry recommended that comfortable conditions be created in the courtroom for Tymoshenko, the penitentiary authority said in its statement.