Tymoshenko to Sue Yanukovich over Murder Accusation

Posters, placards, photographs and wellwishing messages by supporters of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko are seen at the fence of the Central Clinical Hospital in Kharkiv, Ukraine, 17 June 2012. EPA/BGNES

Ukraine's jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has declared that she will sue President Viktor Yanukovich who accused her of being involved in the 1996 murder of prominent politician Yevhen Shcherban.

Tymoshenko's lawyer Serhiy Vlasenko has described the President's claims as "absurd," vowing to take him to court, RIA Novosti informs.

Last week, Yanukovich claimed Shcherban's murder was committed with the participation of the former Prime Minister.

"This isn't a secret for the whole world - this happened. Including Shcherban's murder. There were motives." he told Bloomberg.

Earlier on Monday, Ukraine's deputy prosecutor Renat Kuzmin said there was evidence that Tymoshenko and former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko paid for the murder. However, Tymoshenko has denied any link with the crime.

Tymoshenko was jailed for seven years for pushing through a 2009 gas deal with Russia. Authorities in Ukraine say the deal has caused multi-billion-dollar losses to the country's economy and deny accusations by Western powers and Russia that the trial was politically motivated.

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