Ukraine: Jailed former PM Yulia Tymoshenko accused of organizing murder of lawmaker
Supporters of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko at a campaign rally.
Jailed former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has been accused of ordering the contract-style killing of four people, including a lawmaker, the Associated Press reported Saturday.
Tymoshenko is already serving a seven-year sentence for abuse of office and is awaiting trial for tax evasion.
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The 52-year-old politician has denied the murder accusation and says it is part of campaign by President Viktor Yanukovich to keep her behind bars, the AP said.
ANI reported Tymoshenko, along with Pavlo Lazarenko, another former prime minister, have been accused of organizing the murder of parliamentary deputy Yevgen Shcherban in 1996. Shcherban was gunned down at the airport in Donetsk. His wife was also killed.
The pair allegedly paid $2.8 million to a contract killer to murder Shcherban, ANI reported.
Tymoshenko has not yet been charged over the killings, but the Prosecutor General's office has indicated charges are likely, the AP said. RT reported she could be jailed for life if found guilty.
Lazarenko is serving a sentence in the United States for corruption, the Agence France-Presse reported previously.