You're reading: Court unlikely to pass sentence on Lutsenko by end of year, lawyer says

Lawyer of the former Interior Minister of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko thinks that the court is unlikely will pass him a sentence on by the end of 2011.

"We have 147 witnesses, today [on Wednesday] we questioned the third one. I think [the court] will not [pass a sentence before the end of the year]," Lutsenko’s lawyer, Ihor Fomin, told journalists.

He said he thought the court would delay the consideration of the case, as has been done in the trial of former Premier Yulia Tymoshenko.

"I think we’ve got a normal working rhythm and we’re working normally," Fomin added.

The former minister was arrested on Dec. 26, 2010 and has been held in jail since then.

Lutsenko and his driver Leonid Prystupliuk were charged on Dec. 13, 2010 with the large-scale misappropriation of state owned assets, abuse of power and document forgery.

On Dec. 29, 2010, Lutsenko was accused in the case on the poisoning of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko. Fomin said that in the case of the poisoning of former President Viktor Yushchenko, a criminal case had been opened and charges brought against Lutsenko under part 3, Article 364 of the Criminal Code – abuse of power or office.

Moreover, Lutsenko has been accused of unreasonable spending of money during the celebration of Police Day in the Palace of Ukraine.

All three cases have been united into one court case.