Ukrainian prosecutors have asked a Kyiv court to sentence the former interior minister in the government of jailed ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko to 4 1/2 years in prison on charges of embezzling and abuse of office.
Yuri Lutsenko was arrested in December 2010 on charges that he gave illegal bonuses and perks to his driver at the expense of the state. Prosecutors asked the court Tuesday to find him guilty and send him to jail.
The U.S. and the European Union have condemned Lutsenko’s trial and the imprisonment of Tymoshenko as politically motivated. Tymoshenko is serving a seven-year sentence on charges of abuse of office.
President Viktor Yanukovych says the government is fighting corruption.
