Tymoshenko said Kiev courts are skewed

KIEV, Ukraine, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The courts in Kiev are struggling with justice because they are the victims of political pressure and terror, opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko said.

Tymoshenko appeared before a Kiev court Wednesday to face charges she misused federal funds to pay state pensions during her previous tenure as prime minister.

The opposition leader in statements posted on her Web site said she had no intention of interfering with the court's investigation.

"I won't miss any interrogations or obstruct the investigation in any way," she said. "I want to watch this theater of the absurd to the end."

Tymoshenko accuses Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a political rival, of launching a smear campaign against her opposition movement. Her ally, former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, remains jailed.

Lutsenko was arrested in December in connection with an investigation into the 2004 poisoning of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.

Tymoshenko said Ukrainian courts will face difficulties in making sound judgments on cases involving opposition figures "because they are under more pressure and terror than ever in the last 20 years."