Former Ukranian PM requests deferral of new tax evasion trial

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is refusing to attend a trial on charges of tax evasion in Kharkiv due to health reasons.

Tymoshenko is already currently serving a seven-year jail sentence for abuse of office.

Photos released on Friday depicted Tymoshenko showing injuries allegedly received while in prison the previous week. Authorities denied that three men punched the former prime minister.

Western government condemned the first trial saying it was politically motivated and Tymoshenko was unable to attend preliminary hearings for the latest trial held a week ago.

The tax evasion charges relate to when she was head of a private energy company in the 1990s and her political party said that she had asked for proceedings to be deferred due to her injuries.

Her current jail sentence was the result of alleged tax evasion during the same period and was found guilty despite her denying any wrongdoing.

If found guilty a second time around, Tymoshenko could face another 12 years in prison.

Accusing President Viktor Yanukovych of seeking revenge, Tymoshenko was said to have begun a hunger strike and the images released this week, taken five days after the alleged attack, show bruises and grazes on her stomach and her arm.