You're reading: Lutsenko sentenced to 2-year imprisonment in Yushchenko poisoning case (updated)

Kyiv's Pechersky District Court has sentenced former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko to two years in prison after convicting him of negligence during the search for Valentyn Davydenko, a driver of the Ukrainian Security Council's ex-deputy head Volodymyr Satsiuk, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported.

The presiding judge in the case, Hanna Medushevska, has pronounced the verdict on Friday, August 17.

While reading out the verdict, the judge stressed that the court
found Lutsenko guilty of breaking the law on operational and search
activities and neglecting the regulations on carrying out operational
and search activities.

According to the court ruling, the fact that Valentyn Davydenko, who
is the injured party in the case, refused to admit that he was a victim
“does not prove the absence of the components of crime in the actions of
the defendants.”

The judge also said that all proofs in the case were collected
legally and that there were enough of them to prove that the defendants
are guilty.

“The court critically evaluated the testimonies on innocence of the defendants,” reads the verdict.

The court took into account the state of health of the ex-minister and his state awards as mitigating circumstances.

“The court found Lutsenko guilty and sentences him to two years in prison,” reads the text of the verdict.