A Kyiv court Monday refused to release opposition leader Yuriy Lutsenko, ordering the former interior minister’s five-month arrest to continue for the duration of his trial on charges of allegedly misspending $5,000 while in office. Lutsenko’s defense team, along with a group of lawmakers, asked the Pecherskiy district court to allow the former minister stay at home while defending himself at the trial. Lutsenko interpreted the refusal as a sign of politically motivated pressure from his opponent, President Viktor Yanukovych. The Pecherskiy court has always been “biased and controlled by the head of state,” Lutsenko said in a statement. “My own detention is proof there is no justice in Ukraine.” Read the story here
