Court refuses to readmit Tymoshenko’s lawyer

The court in the trial of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko refused to allow Tymoshenko`s defense lawyer Sergey Vlasenko to return to defending her in her trial on Wednesday. The Ukrainian public prosecutor’s office said Tymoshenko`s defense team was appealing for Vlasenko to be allowed to return to court in order to draw out the trial. Tymoshenko stands accused of acting in excess of her authority by signing a gas supply contract with Russia in 2009. Vlasenko, a deputy in the Rada, Ukraine’s parliament and formerly Tymoshenko`s lawyer, was removed from the court due to a violation of court procedure in July. The court had previously dismissed appeals for Vlasenko to return to the trial in that month. The court also threw out a challenge by Tymoshenko’s defense against two prosecutors in the case. Tymoshenko was taken into custody on Friday during a court hearing for contempt of court, including impeding the proceedings by claiming she could no longer speak Russian. Russia’s President Medvedev is due to meet Ukraine’s Viktor Yanukovych on Thursday for talks that are likely to include a revision of the gas agreement.