You're reading: Yuriy Lutsenko, former top cop, given four-year prison sentence

A sense of predictability hung in the air as the courtroom filled with dozens of journalists, Western diplomats and opposition politicians eager to hear the verdict against former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko on Feb. 27.

When Judge Serhiy Vovk read out the four-year jail sentence, few were surprised, including the opposition leader himself.

The judgment was delivered in the same court where former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a close ally of Lutsenko, was sentenced to seven years in prison on Oct. 11.

The convicted say that President Viktor Yanukovych is pursuing a political vendetta against them and their allies. The U.S. and the European Union agree and have called on Yanukovych to back off and free his opponents and let them take part in parliamentary elections on Oct. 28.

He has shown no sign of backing down, and the jailing of Lutsenko, 47, on embezzlement and abuse-of-office charges has widened the rift between Yanukovych and the West.

Both the EU and the U.S. were disappointed with the verdict. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement that the court ruling “signals the continuation of trials in Ukraine which do not respect international standards as regards fair, transparent and independent legal process.”

The atmosphere in Pechersk District Court was febrile.

The court announced the decision which was prepared by politicians,We have witnessed the final diagnosis that there is no independent and objective court in Ukraine.

– Ukrainian Former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko

Despite a liver disease and varicose veins of the esophagas, Lutsenko reportedly contracted during his pre-trial detention, he looked energetic in court, chatting with supporters and tossing barbs at the judges.

“Speak up! We can’t hear your lies,” Lutsenko shouted at one of the judges, who was quickly mumbling through the text of the verdict.

Lutsenko was accused of illegally helping his former driver receive an apartment and larger pension, misspending money for a ministry dinner and ordering unlawful surveillance of a former security official’s ex-driver.

He will serve two years and 10 months in prison, as he has already been locked up for more than a year since his arrest. The judge also ordered him to return nearly $100,000 in misappropriated funds to the Interior Ministry and that allof his property be confiscated.

Lutsenko denounced the decision as “political” and said he would appeal.

“The court announced the decision which was prepared by politicians,” he said. “We have witnessed the final diagnosis that there is no independent and objective court in Ukraine.”

Viktor Klymenko, one of the prosecutors in the case, said that “the verdict will make our society better,” as from now on top officials will feel personal responsibility for their actions.

There is little evidence that it’s happening, though. Reports of fixed tenders, corruption among top officials and misappropriation of public funds by the current set of rulers are an everyday affair in the few media that are not controlled by the government or friendly oligarchs.

Yet prosecutors fail to follow up in these investigations, further amplifying the message that justice is selective in the nation.

In court, Lutsenko supporters chanted “Free Lutsenko” and cursed at the prosecutors and judges. Lutsenko even spat at one of the prosecutors as he walked past. Some analysts say it is this strong criticism of the authorities that has landed Lutsenko in jail.

A longtime critic of the current president, he was a leader of the Orange Revolution in 2004 that blocked Yanukovych’s first attempt to take the country’s top job. Lutsenko later served twice as interior minister in Tymoshenko’s government.

Lutsenko’s wife and 21-year-old son Oleksandr attended the court hearing, as did boxer and opposition politician Vitali Klitschko, who said: “This is further evidence of dictatorship in Ukraine.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Yuriy Onyshkiv can be reached at [email protected]