Ukraine's Tymoshenko charged with abuse of power

Ukraine's former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko was charged Monday with abuse of power, a crime that could put the charismatic Orange Revolution leader in jail for a decade and keep her out of politics, AFP reported.

Tymoshenko told reporters on leaving the prosecutor's office that she has been ordered to stay in the capital Kiev during the investigation, which is linked to the alleged misuse of state funds.

The former ally of ex-president Viktor Yushchenko said she had used money earmarked in the state budget for environmental spending to cover Ukraine's massive pension arrears in times of economic crisis.

"The money allotted for the Kyoto Protocol was not being spent," said Tymoshenko. "We used funds from a single line item of the budget, one that had no purpose or designation."

Tymoshenko told the investigators that the money in question -- 320 million euros (425 million dollars) -- was not misappropriated and was intact.

"This is all completely absurd," said Tymoshenko. "This is how the president deals with his biggest political opponents."

The investigation represents the most serious legal trouble for Tymoshenko since she was forced out of her post after the victory of the Kremlin-friendly Viktor Yanukovych in presidential elections earlier this year.

Tymoshenko has vowed to lead the opposition to her long-time rival, a vow that she says has made her the target of politically charged criminal investigations orchestrated by the president.

If convicted, Tymoshenko, 50, faces between seven to 10 years in prison followed by a mandatory three-year abstention from politics.

The initial announcement of a probe into Tymoshenko, who leads her own opposition party in parliament, led to an ugly brawl in the chamber early Friday when her supporters tried to stage a sit-in strike.

Their attempts were interrupted by the president's supporters, who broke down doors and burst into the main assembly hall.

The ensuing brawl sent several lawmakers to hospital and underscored the deep political divisions that still run in Ukraine, preventing the passage of meaningful legislation that could help the country recover from its economic malaise.

Tymoshenko needled her political foes again Monday, saying she had nothing to hide and that it was Yanukovych and his team who had proven to be the corrupt ones after being initially deposed from power in the controversial elections of 2005.

"I am not afraid of anything," she said in comments posted on her website.

"I will never leave, hide in hospital or go abroad, like Yanukovych and his supporters did in 2005, when they scattered all across the world," she said.

"I will remain in Ukraine and show up each time I am called in for questioning."

Yanukovych has so far issued no comment about the probe.