The defense team of former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko is to appeal against the ruling of Kyiv's Court of Appeals to uphold Lutsenko's two-year sentence for crimes related to the investigation of alleged poisoning of the third president of Ukraine, Viktor Yuschenko.

When asked whether they would challenge the court's ruling, defense lawyer Oleksiy Bahanets said they would.

He said the Appellate Court's ruling confirmed that "there was no justice in Ukraine."

As reported, on November 22, Kyiv's Court of Appeals 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.

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.