KIEV, Aug. 14 – A Ukrainian court on Tuesday delayed the tax evasion and embezzlement trial of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko until September 11 after she refused to appear in court, citing poor health.

Tymoshenko, who in October was sentenced to seven years in prison for abusing office while brokering a natural gas agreement with Russia in January 2009, seeks to overturn this verdict at the European Court for Human Rights (EHCR).

The ECHR is due to hold a public hearing on her case on Aug. 28, which means that due to the latest delay Tymoshenko is not likely to get any new verdicts in Ukraine before then.

Tymoshenko’s daughter, Evgenia, told Reuters recently the authorities in Ukraine have been trying to give the former prime minister a second verdict before ECHR’s hearings.

The second conviction could keep Tymoshenko behind bars even if the EHCR eventually rules in her favor.

Without the second conviction and with ECHR’s positive ruling, Tymoshenko may be released in what could be a tectonic shift in Ukraine’s politics ahead of the October 28 parliamentary elections.

Her trial in Kharkiv for tax evasion and embezzlement going back to alleged offences in the 1990s has been put off several times since she has been unable to attend because of back trouble for which she is receiving hospital treatment.

Tymoshenko, who was moved from prison to a state-run clinic in May for treatment for a chronic back problem, has refused to attend all the previous hearings in the new trial.

The court on Tuesday formally asked her to agree to a video link from her hospital bed to enable the trial to take place. She has refused such a suggestion in the past.

Tymoshenko, the fiercest political foe of President Viktor Yanukovych, has dismissed all charges against her as politically motivated and is challenging her initial conviction both locally and in the European Court of Human Rights.

The European Union has supported Tymoshenko, calling her case an example of selective justice and shelving key agreements on free trade and political association with Ukraine.

Tymoshenko led the 2004 Orange Revolution protests that derailed Yanukovych's first bid for presidency, and served twice as prime minister.

Yanukovych, who beat her in a close run-off to become president in February 2010, has refused to intervene in Tymoshenko's prosecution despite being urged to do so by Brussels. (tl/rt/ez)