KIEV, December 23 - RAPSI. An appellate court in Kiev resolved on Friday to continue hearing the appeal filed by former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in her and her attorneys' absence, RIA Novosti reports.

"The court... has decided to continue considering the appeal in the absence of convict Yulia Tymoshenko and her defense attorneys," presiding judge Yelena Sitailo said.
Earlier the judge told that neither Tymoshenko nor her defense attorneys attended the hearing. The court has also received the attorneys' statements that they would not attend the session and their position has been agreed upon with Tymoshenko.

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 Ukraines Naftogaz and Russia's Gazprom in 2009. Both her defense attorneys and opposition activists believe her prosecution is driven by politics, while the authorities have denied such allegations.