Ukraine asked to drop criminal case

KIEV, Ukraine, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Ukraine's former prime minister asked prosecutors to close the criminal case against her Wednesday because there is no evidence she committed a crime.

Yulia Tymoshenko said current law provides investigators have three days to respond to her formal request, RIA Novosti reported.

Tymoshenko is accused of illegally diverting $425 million budgeted for environmental projects into pension funds.

She said she is being targeted for standing up to President Viktor Yanukovych, who narrowly defeated her in last February's presidential election.

Tymoshenko told the Ukrainian Independent Information Agency she spent five hours explaining to the Prosecutor General's Office how the state budget works.

"I think they finally understood that pensions were paid with loans from the state budget, but this is strictly stipulated in law on the state budget, and it has nothing to do with spending Kyoto Protocol money," she said.