Kyiv's Court of Appeals has upheld a ruling by Kyiv's Pechersky District Court, which found former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko guilty of negligence in extending surveillance over the driver of a former SBU official and sentenced him to two years in prison.

The Court of Appeals announced this ruling on Thursday, having considered an appeal by the ex-minister and his defense team against the court ruling.

As reported, on February 27, 2012 Pechersky District Court in Kyiv found Lutsenko guilty of committing a number of abuse-of-office crimes and sentenced him to four years in prison. In addition, on August 17, 2012, Pechersky District Court found the ex-minister guilty of negligence in extending the surveillance of Valentyn Davydenko, the ex-driver of former Deputy Chief of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Volodymyr Satsiuk, as a part of investigation of the poisoning of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko and sentenced him to two years in prison.

On August 31, 2012, the ex-minister was transferred to the Mena penal colony in Chernihiv region.