KIEV, March 7 - RAPSI. Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko refused to attend a court hearing in Kiev on Thursday where a witness was scheduled to give testimony in the case of the murder of MP and businessman Yevhen Shcherban, reported the press office of Ukraine's penitentiary service.

Tymoshenko was notified of the summons the night before, the penitentiary service said. She refused to explain her refusal to attend and she also refused to sit in on the hearing via a conference call from hospital.

Ukraine's penitentiary service said they had officially informed the court of Tymoshenko's refusal to attend the hearing in person or via conference call.

Yevhen Shcherban, chief of the Aton financial corporation, was shot dead at Donetsk Airport in November 1996. His wife and an airport employee were also killed. Investigators suspect two former prime ministers, Yulia Tymoshenko and Pavlo Lazarenko, of organizing the murder.

If Tymoshenko is found guilty by the court, she could face a life sentence.

In October 2011, Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison for abuse of power. The judge said she exceeded her powers when she signed a 2009 deal with Moscow under which Ukraine paid a high price for Russian gas.

In late March, a second case bringing further charges against Tymoshenko was filed with Kharkiv's Kievsky District Court. The case deals with suspected embezzlement when she headed United Energy Systems of Ukraine in the 1990s.

Lazarenko was released from Terminal Island Prison in California in late 2012. The former official spent over 10 years in prison for money laundering and extortion.

Lazarenko is still living in the United States. Both he and Tymoshenko deny the accusations.