Tymoshenko challenges murder case - UPI.com Former Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in a 2009 file photo. UPI Photo/Mykola Lazarenko/HO KIEV, Ukraine, June 19 (UPI) -- The lawyer for jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko said Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych may be sued for accusing her of a 1996 killing. Tymoshenko is accused of having a role in the alleged 1996 contract killing of Ukrainian lawyer Yevhen Scherban along with his wife. Tymoshenko and former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko are suspected of paying for the killing along. Tymoshenko's lawyer, Serhiy Vlasenko, said the Scherban allegations are "absurd" and there may be a suit filed against the Ukrainian president in retaliation, reports Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti. The case has plagued Ukraine's relationship with the European Union. EU officials said the charges against Tymoshenko appear to be politically motivated and out of step with international expectations.