You're reading: Lutsenko pledges to prove his innocence

Former Ukrainian interior minister Yuriy Lutsenko has said he will appeal against the four-year prison sentence he was given on Monday.

"The court has read out a decision that was prepared by politicians… I will try to prove my case both legally and politically," Lutsenko said after Pechersky District Court in Kyiv found him guilty and sentenced him to imprisonment.

"This court, which ignored the findings of forensic examinations, read out a sentence that had been prepared by politicians in advance, by officials from the president’s office, in order to remove me from political life as a political player," the ex-minister said.