KIEV, December 20 - RAPSI. An appellate court has opened the hearing of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's appeal against her sentence in the "gas case," RIA Novosti reports.

Tymoshenko is absent from the courtroom. Only her defense attorneys, her daughter Eugenia, the prosecution and opposition MPs are present at the trial.

Journalists are watching the trial live on a large screen in the court's conference hall.

A law enforcement source told RIA Novosti earlier on Tuesday that Tymoshenko, who was carried to the court, asked to be taken back to her cell as she had "very strong pains."

The Kiev Appellate Court has been considering Tymoshenko's appeal against her seven-year sentence for abuse of power in signing gas contracts between Ukraine's Naftogaz and Russia's Gazprom in 2009. She did not attend the hearings. According to her defense, her poor health prevents her from participating. Meanwhile, the prosecution holds that she is malingering.