A Ukrainian court on Monday, July 23, put off until July 31 the hearings in a tax evasion case against former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko due to her inability to attend the trial on health grounds, Reuters reported.

Tymoshenko, sentenced to seven years in prison last October on a separate charge of abuse of office, is being treated for back trouble in a state-run hospital.

The prosecution of Tymoshenko, a key political opponent of President Viktor Yanukovich, has soured Ukraine's ties with the European Union which sees the ruling as an example of selective justice.