Prosecutor demands seven years in prison for Timoshenko

She said Timoshenko's culpability in the gas case had been proven fully.

"On results of the court deliberations, we ask the court to find Timoshenko guilty and, bearing in mind the severity of her crime, to sentence her to seven years in prison on the basis of paragraph 3, article 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and deny her the right to take certain positions for three years," Frolova said.

In her words, no circumstances alleviating or exacerbating the culpability of Timoshenko were exposed in the course of the trial.

The prosecution also asked the court to meet the claim of Neftegaz Ukrainy for 1.51 billion hryvni (about $200 million).

The court recessed until September 28.

The culpability of Timoshenko in the gas case is proven fully, Frolova said.

The court declined the appeal of the Timoshenko defense for resuming the juridical investigation. Presiding Judge Rodion Kireyev said that the parties to the trial had considered every piece of evidence and documents to which the Timoshenko side had referred.

Timoshenko was accused of the illegal signing of gas contracts with Russia in 2009. The Prosecutor General's Office said that she abused of office and caused more than 1.5 billion hryvni (about $200 million) damage to Ukraine.

Ukraine cannot secede from gas agreements with Russia signed by Yulia Timoshenko, Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov told the court, as he was giving testimony in the Timoshenko case.

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