Yulia Tymoshenko is refusing to provide court testimony because she is not familiar with the indictment and civil suit filed against her by Naftohaz.

"No, I do not wish to answer," Yulia Tymoshenko said in response to Judge Kireyev’s question: "Do you acknowledge your guilt? Are you willing to provide testimony? Are you willing to pay damages to the civil plaintiff?"

Defense lawyer Oleksandr Plakhotnyuk pointed out that the indictment and statement of claim were announced in the absence of Yulia Tymoshenko and her defense. "We are not familiar with the indictment, which was announced in our absence, and Yulia Tymoshenko is also not familiar with the civil suit," he said.

Copies of the indictment and civil suit were given to Yulia Tymoshenko and her defense lawyers by the court secretary only this morning. On July 15, Judge Kireyev ejected Yulia Tymoshenko from the courtroom for mythical "unsatisfactory conduct." Afterward, in violation of the Criminal Procedure Code, the indictment was read in the absence of Yulia Tymoshenko and her defender.

One of the most qualified Ukrainian lawyers, Serhiy Vlasenko, was dismissed from defense of Yulia Tymoshenko on criminal proceedings instituted versus her on the basis of abuse of power in the signature of gas contracts with Russia in 2009.

This was ruled by the Perchesk District Court of Kyiv, considering the Tymoshenko case. Vlasenko, MP, was not only dismissed from the duties of defense lawyer, but he was banned from presence in the court hall untill completion of consideration of the case.

The Judge, Rodion Kireyev, explained this decision by the fact that Vlasenko, according to him, regularly violates the established procedure for holding the court sitting.

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