Ukrainian court sanctions arrest of former Interior Minister

Ukrainian court sanctions arrest of former Interior Minister

2010-12-28 09:53:16 GMT+7 (ICT)

KIEV, UKRAINE (BNO NEWS) -- The Pechyorsky Court of Kiev on Monday officially sanctioned the arrest of former Interior Minister Yurily Lutsenko for alleged abuse of power, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

On Sunday, the former Minister was detained by the SBU, the Ukrainian security service, while walking his dog. Lutsenko was charged with abuse of office for the period in which he was investigating the poisoning of former President Viktor Yushchenko.

Yushchenko was poisoned in 2004 during the run-up presidential election. He was affected with TCDD, a powerful doixin that disfigured his face and left him looking older and weak. Yushchenko was defeated by incumbent President Viktor Yanukovich.

According to Irina Kisil, spokeswoman for Lutsenko, the former minister faces up to 12 years in prison if he is found guilty. Several members of Lutsenko's political party, the People's Self-Defense, have begun protests in front of the Pechyorsky Court.

In addition, Oleksander Turchinov, one of the leaders of the Batkivshchyna Bloc, announced that his party will support the People's Self-Defense party in initiating an extraordinary session of the Parliament in relation to Lutsenko's arrest.

The Batkivshchyna Bloc has been in the spotlight lately as last week its leader Yulia Tymoshenko was charged with misusing $425 million of state funds. Tymoshenko, the former Prime Minister and current opposition leader, claimed that the charges were politically motivated.

Tymoshenko lined with the opposition after her government was dissolved in March following the presidential elections. The opposition leader opposed Yanukovich in the polls, but narrowly lost.

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