PARIS - The French authorities regret a Ukrainian court ruling sentencing former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko to four years in prison, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero has said.
"France regrets that former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko was sentenced to four years in prison, with no right to hold a number of posts for three years," he said.
Valero said that the trial of Lutsenko did not meet Ukraine’s international commitments.
"France again calls on Ukraine to fully respect the law, justice, human rights and its international commitments," he said.
On Feb. 27, the Pechersky District Court in Kyiv found Lutsenko guilty of official crimes and sentenced him to four years in prison.
The court also ruled to deprive Lutsenko of the right to hold certain posts for three years and to confiscate his property.
Lutsenko will have to serve two years and ten months in prison on top of the year and two months that the ex-minister has already spent in a pre-trial detention center.
