Tymoshenko now facing murder charges?

KIEV, Ukraine, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Allegations that former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was tied to the death of a lawmaker in the 1990s are baseless, a spokesperson said.

Ukraine's Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin was quoted by The Wall Street Journal as saying investigators were looking into claims Tymoshenko was involved in the 1996 contract killing of Ukrainian lawmaker Yevhen Shcherban.

"The country and society need to know what really happened," the prosecutor said.

Tymoshenko spokeswoman Natalia Lysova was quoted as saying the latest charges were "rubbish" adding "the attempts by (Ukrainian President Viktor) Yanukovych and his allies to get rid of their political opponents know no limits."

Tymoshenko lost to Yanukovych in a bruising presidential campaign in 2010. She was sentenced to seven years in jail on charges she abused her authority in a 2009 natural gas deal with Russia's Gazprom. She faces a slew of other charges that her Western allies see as politically motivated.

Authorities in her opposition All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland," have introducing a draft resolution to dissolve the Ukrainian Parliament and hold new elections.

Tymoshenko denies all of the charges filed against her.