Tymoshenko court hearing postponed in Ukraine

[April 28, 2012]  KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- A court in Ukraine has postponed a hearing in the second criminal case against the jailed former prime minister and opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

She was due in court Saturday in the eastern city of Kharkiv, but the judge agreed to postpone the hearing due to the poor state of her health. The next hearing was set for May 21.

Tymoshenko is on a hunger strike to protest alleged abuse in a Kharkiv prison and also is suffering from debilitating back pain.

She is serving a seven-year prison sentence on charges of abusing her powers in negotiating an energy deal with Russia. The West has condemned the case as politically motivated.

In the second case, she is charged with evading taxes while heading an energy company in the 1990s.

[Associated Press]

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