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Yuri Lutsenko sentenced to two years term under second criminal case

He is banned to be working as an official for three years
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

KIEV, August 17 (Itar-Tass) — Kiev’s Pechersky District Court sentenced Ukraine’s Former Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko to two years’ term under the criminal case on organisation of illegal watching in the framework of the investigation into poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko in 2004.

“Lutsenko is sentenced to two years imprisonment and he is banned to be working as an official for three years,” People’s Self-Defence party, where Lutsenko is the leader, said on Friday.

The new criminal case against the former minister is on organisation of an illegal watch of Valentin Davydenko – a driver of former Deputy Head of Ukraine’s Security Service Vladimir Satsouk – during the probe into poisoning of presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko in September of 2004, which is claimed to have happened in Satsouk’s country house.

The driver himself did not show up for the hearings. In letters to the court he claimed he was a victim.

Together with Lutsenko, the case considers involvement of two former staff members of the Interior Ministry’s department – Vladimir Tarasenko and Oleg Pavlenov. The People’s Self-Defence Party said today’s court decision had sentenced them to a fine.

The investigation of the case lasted since April 2. In June Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office changed the accusation for Lutsenko from abuse of power to negligence of service obligations, thus the maximum punishment could be not ten but three years.

At the previous court hearings, the state prosecution asked the court for 2.5 years’ terms for all the involved.

In February, Kiev’s Pechersky District Court sentenced Ukraine’s Former Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko to four years’ term for abuse of power and for stealing of funds during organisation of Day of Police celebration in 2008-2009. Lutsenko has been behind the bars since December 26, 2010.