Former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko has been charged on suspicion of trying to bribe Ukrainian Supreme Court officials, the press service of the country's Prosecutor General's Office said on Wednesday.
"On May 12, 2010, the Central Investigative Department of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office handed Yulia Tymoshenko a notification that she was charged of attempting to bribe judges in the Ukrainian Supreme Court," a statement said.
According to the statement, the criminal case was initiated in May 2004 and closed prematurely in January 2005 before all necessary investigation procedures were carried out.
Ukrainian Russian-language daily Segodnya (Today) quoted a source close to the Prosecutor General's Office as saying Tymoshenko has been accused of attempting to bribe court officials to release her detained relatives.
Tymoshenko is to go to Prosecutor General's office on May 17 for questioning. The juridical body is also expected to decide on the pre-trial restrictions to be imposed on Tymoshenko.
The former prime minister, who currently leads the Ukrainian opposition, has said the allegations are politically motivated.
"This is a direct order from [President Viktor] Yanukovych. This is political victimization," she said.
Tymoshenko's spokeswoman Marina Sorokina earlier said "these political repressions are an intentional move on the part of the authorities to hamper the activities of the opposition."
Yury Myroshnychenko, a leader of the pro-presidential Party of Regions, rejected the former prime minister's accusations.
"Yulia Tymoshenko probably does believe she is being persecuted, but I do not rule out that this is a form of manipulation of the public consciousness and opinions of the media," he said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov earlier accused Tymoshenko of costing the state 100 billion hryvnas ($12.5 billion) during her term in office, and said the 2008-2009 budget documents should be examined by law enforcement agencies and independent auditors.
On May 5, the Ukrainian Cabinet hired Washington-based law firm Trout Cacheris PLLC to conduct an audit of the state budget under Tymoshenko's term as prime minister.
KIEV, May 12 (RIA Novosti)
