Ukraine's former prime minister and heroine of the 2004 Orange Revolution Yulia Tymoshenko has gone on trial in Kiev for abuse of power.

乌克兰前总理、领导2004年橙色革命运动的女英雄尤利娅·季莫申科因滥用职权在基辅接受审查。

Yulia Tymoshenko lost the premiership in March 2010 following a vote of no confidence
Ms Tymoshenko has dismissed the charges, which concern natural gas contracts with Russia, as revenge by her rival, President Viktor Yanukovych.

She lost the premiership in March 2010 following a vote of no confidence.

Ms Tymoshenko has asked the European Court of Human Rights to decide if the charges are politically motivated.

'Farce¹ and circus'

About 1,000 of her supporters gathered outside the court in Kiev, which was ringed by police, the AFP news agency reports.

"This is a farce（闹剧，胡闹） and circus and not a court hearing," Ms Tymoshenko told the judge, according to AFP.

Investigators² say a 10-year gas contract agreed with Russia in January 2009 was ruinous（破坏性的） for the Ukrainian economy and that Ms Tymoshenko did not have cabinet approval to sign it.

The charges are not the first to be brought against the former prime minister.

In December, she was charged with misusing³ 320m euros (£270m; $425m) received by the government in 2009 for the sale of carbon credits.