KIEV, December 23 - RAPSI. An appellate court in Kiev upheld on Friday the trial court's judgment sentencing former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to seven years in prison for abuse of power in signing gas supply contracts with Russia in 2009, RIA Novosti reports from the courtroom.

A Kiev district court passed the sentence in October.

Both opposition activists and the defense believe Tymoshenko's prosecution to be driven by politics. Attorneys appealed the judgment with a higher court and lodged a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights.

Tymoshenko has been under pre-trial detention since August. A Kiev district court sentenced Tymoshenko on October 11 to seven years in prison for abuse of power in signing gas contracts between Ukraines Naftogaz and Russia's Gazprom in 2009. Both her defense attorneys and opposition activists believe her prosecution is driven by politics, while the authorities have denied such allegations.