Jailed former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko refused to testify in U.S. court via a video linkup, the Ukraine’s state penitentiary service said in a statement on Friday.
The New York Southern District Court sought to question Tymoshenko via an online conference about an $18.3-million debt that the energy transporter United Energy Systems, which Tymoshenko headed in the 1990s. The trial is due to begin on September 5.
"Tymoshenko filed a notification about her official denial to take part in a video conference within the Universal Trading & Investment Co., Inc. vs. Yulia Tymoshenko case,” the statement says.
In her statement, Tymoshenko said the decision not to testify was in line with recommendations by German and Ukrainian doctors, who advised her to avoid stressful situations.
Tymoshenko, the opposition heroine of Ukraine's 2004 pro-democracy Orange revolution, was jailed for seven years for abuse of office following a controversial trial in October 2011, which was condemned by Russia and Western governments as politically motivated. She is also facing a separate trial for embezzlement and tax evasion.
While in detention, she complained about severe back pain that prevented her from walking. Doctors from Germany's Charite clinic who examined her in early May diagnosed Tymoshenko with “an acute form of disk herniation."
Ukrainian Health Minister Raisa Bohatyriova said on July 27 that her medical treatment was successfully completed and the ex-premier is currently “very active.”
