Ukraine Former Minister Of The Interior Jailed

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Ukraine's former minister of the Interior, Yuriy Lutsenko, is currently one of the country's opposition leaders. He has been imprisoned for two months. The charges against Lutsenko have fluctuated, and are thought to be politically motivated. Now to our correspondents in Kiev for the details.

Ukrainian former Minister of the Interior, Yuriy Lutsenko, has been jailed for two months.

The decision was taken by Pechersk court in Kiev on Monday.

The reason - Mr. Lutsenko was cooperating too slowly with the investigation against him.

He stands accused of abusing his powers of office and of embezzlement of public funds.

Member of the opposition believe the criminal case is due to political reasons.

At the proceedings, Lutsenko declared that he did not understand exactly what he was accused of. After all, the Security Service detained him the previous day on a different charge.

[Yuriy Lutsenko, Minister of the Interior of Ukraine]:
"I don't understand what's going on here. Is the court hearing the case for which I was arrested yesterday, or is it hearing the case of which I was accused last month? I received some documents [from prosecutors] a month ago, now I can not understand the logic of the process at all."

On Sunday, December 26th, eleven special agents of Security Service "Alpha" detained Lutsenko.

Lutsenko claims he was detained on December 26th by eleven special agents of Security Service "Alpha," in connection with the poisoning of former Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko. Lutsenko was sighted near the scene of the crime walking his dog.

However, in court the following day, the charges made against him related to the earlier indictment of abuse of power of office and embezzlement.

Yuri Lutsenko's wife says she was not surprised by her husband's detention.

[Irina Lutsenko, Wife of Yuri Lutsenko]:
"Jura said repeatedly that senior politicians from the government and the opposition had encouraged him to leave, get refugee status, even giving him the appropriate literature. During his political activities in this country Jura has never hid behind anyone's back or feigned illness: we decided we definitely would never leave under such circumstances."

Ukrainian human rights activists have issued a public announcement about the detention.

[Kateryna Levchenko, Human Rights Activist]:
"Selective criminal prosecution is a sign of an undemocratic government, recent events have an underlying political motive."

Meanwhile, Yury Lutsenko's lawyer has decided to appeal the court decision.

NTD News, Kiev, Ukraine.

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