Tymoshenko Refuses To Acknowledge Murder Accusation

Yulia Tymoshenko with her husband, Oleksandr (file photo)

Jailed former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko refuses to acknowledge accusations of her alleged involvement in the murder of a Ukrainian lawmaker 16 years ago.

Tymoshenko's daughter, Yevhenia Tymoshenko, told journalists in Kyiv that the official notification that her mother is considered a suspect in the murder had been read out and handed to her last week illegally by a number of unidentified men with video cameras and in the absence of Tymoshenko’s lawyers.

Ukraine's Prosecutor-General Viktor Pshonka said on January 18 that Tymoshenko is a suspect in the murder of Yevhen Shcherban at an airport in eastern Ukraine in 1996.

Tymoshenko is serving a seven-year term for abuse of office.

A second trial for alleged tax evasion and embezzlement has been adjourned until February 12.

Tymoshenko calls all of the charges politically motivated.

Based on reporting by UNIAN and Interfax