KIEV, December 21 - RAPSI. A Kiev Court of Appeals postponed on Tuesday until December 22 its hearing of an appeal filed by former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko against prison sentence in the "gas case," RIA Novosti reports.

"The case has been postponed until December 22," presiding Judge Yelena Sitailo said. The court will continue reading the case report on Thursday, she added.

Tymoshenko has been under pre-trial detention since August. A Kiev district court sentenced Tymoshenko on October 11 to seven years in prison for abuse of power in signing gas contracts between Ukraine's Naftogaz and Russia's Gazprom in 2009. Opposition believes the Tymoshenko's case is politically motivated.