KIEV, August 29 - RAPSI. Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will file an application with the European Court of Human Rights against the Ukrainian High Specialized Court on Civil and Criminal Cases' decision to leave intact her sentence on charges of having made illegal gas deals while serving as prime minister, said her attorney Sergei Vlasenko.

The High Specialized Court on Civil and Criminal Cases dismissed on Wednesday Tymoshenko's appeal, thus leaving in force her seven year sentence in the gas case.

In her appeal, Tymoshenko asked the court to acquit her and to close the criminal case against her, as she claims to have committed no crime. The prosecutors insisted that the court panel uphold the sentence.

In October 2011, Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison for abuse of power after signing a gas contract with Russia in 2009. She is serving her sentence in a Kharkiv women's prison. She has been receiving treatment at a Kharkiv hospital since May 2012. She was diagnosed with a spinal disc herniation.

In late March, a second case against Tymoshenko was submitted to the Kharkiv Kievsky District Court. The case deals with her activity at United Energy Systems. She is suspected on charges of financial machinations.

The verdict has aggravated Ukraine's ties with the EU. The West has called the sentence politically motivated, while the Ukrainian government has flatly denied the charges.

Last December, an appeals court left the sentence without amendment and transferred the former prime minister to a Kharkiv prison. Her defense appealed to the Supreme Specialized Court for Considering Criminal and Civil Cases in February. The court was made the final instance after judicial reforms in 2010. Its decisions are not subject to dispute.