Lutsenko gets 4-year jail sentence

Yuriy Lutsenko, a former interior minister (2005-2006, 2007-2010) and opposition politician, was sentenced to four years in jail for abuse of office, a Kyiv district court judge announced yesterday. Lutsenko will be prohibited from holding public office for three years and have his private property confiscated. His jail term will include his 14-months spent in pre-trial detention. A guilty verdict was widely expected in this case, with the charges derided both abroad and domestically as politically-motivated. Lutsenko becomes the second highest ranking former government official (after former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in October) to be jailed since Yanukovych came to office.