Ukraine court to question more witnesses in case against ex premier.

KIEV, July 29 (Itar-Tass) - Kiev's Pechyora district court on Friday
will continue to question witnesses in the "gas" case against former Prime
Minister Yulia Timoshenko, the leader of the Batkivshchina (Fatherland)
Opposition Party.
On Thursday, presiding judge Rodion Kiryev permitted to question
former deputy head of the Naftogaz Ukrainy company Igor Didenko, who was
detained a year ago within the criminal case over squandering of funds.
Didenko is in custody at present.
At the end of the Thursday hearing, Timoshenko stated that the court
had not given her the opportunity to call witnesses for the defense.
"They haven't let me announce the witnesses for the defense or enlist
the defense for the trial; they haven't let me file a single petition or
make a statement during proceedings. They have taken away from me not only
the right to defense but also the right to expression," Timoshenko told
reporters after the hearing.
The court questioned seven witnesses on Thursday, including former
Deputy Prosecutor General Tatyana Kornyakova, acting director of the
department of gas, oil and oil refining industry under the Ministry of
Energy and Coal Industry, former press secretary and aide to Minister of
Energy and Coal Industry Konstantin Borodin, and former Ukrtransgaz
director Yaroslav Marchuk.