“I am not guilty and I have no reason to plea for compassion,” said ex-Interior
Minister Yury Lutsenko in his final word in the court hearings Feb. 15.
“I have no grudges and I plan no retribution. I remain a normal person who does not blame the judges and prosecutors despite their utter imbecility.
There must be some logic in the case – Ukraine has lost millions to “investigate” the crimes of Tymoshenko and Lutsenko.
Ukraine cannot continue to pay for some person’s hard feelings after being toppled in 2004 [reference to Viktor Yanukovych],” Lutsenko said.
The ex-minister called the trial a farce, with the bulk of the evidence fabricated.
None of the charges have been proven in court, he said.
Yury Lutsenko has been in detention for over a year.
Prosecutors called over 150 witnesses to testify.
86 of the witnesses said they had been forced to give false testimony during the pre-trial investigation. They changed their evidence at the trial.
Lutsenko was investigated on 3 charges: hiring his civilian driver as a serviceman, providing the driver with a one-room apartment by-passing the line of other policemen, and authorizing “a too lavish celebration” of the Police Day.
Against the backdrop of the current rampant official graft, the charges are laughable.
