Kiev's Tymoshenko charged in funds probe

KIEV, Ukraine, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- A court in Kiev charged Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko on Monday with misusing public funds, the former prime minister's office said.

Tymoshenko arrived Monday in Kiev to face allegations she misdirected funds to cover the payment of pensions. She said in statements published through her political bloc that a criminal case was opened against her.

She said she was charged with making the unilateral decision to use funds from the sale of quotas from greenhouse gases to cover expenses incurred through the payment of pensions, the National News Agency of Ukraine reports.

Tymoshenko in a statement on her Web site last week said pensions were paid from state treasury accounts. She accused Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych of launching a "terror" campaign against the opposition in Kiev.

Critics said Kiev is trying to divert attention from an unpopular move on pension reform by targeting Tymoshenko.

In May, the prosecutor general's office in Kiev said Tymoshenko was given notification that criminal proceedings against her for allegedly bribing a judge were reopened.

Several lawmakers in the Ukrainian Parliament were injured during a brawl between Tymoshenko loyalists and her rivals during a corruption inquiry into the Orange Revolution leader last week.