KIEV, November 22 - RAPSI, Alyona Meyta. The Kiev Appellate Court has confirmed the sentence of former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko, his People's Self-Defense party has reported on Thursday.

On November 20, the Kiev Appellate Court considered Lutsenko's appeal against his second sentence, pursuant to which he received two years in prison for organizing the surveillance of the driver of Vladimir Satsyuk, the former first deputy head of the security service, during the investigation into former President Viktor Yushchenko's poisoning in 2004.

Lutsenko was brought from a prison in the Chernigkovsk Region to take part in the trial. The defense asked to close the case and to release the defendant, as it believes the investigation regarding the former minister was incomplete and impartial.

In February 2012, a Ukrainian court sentenced Lutsenko to four years in prison on charges of embezzling state funds and abuse of power. The appeals court upheld the sentence in the first case against Lutsenko. In Ukraine, if an individual is convicted in more than one trial, only the longer of the terms will be served. On August 31, the former minister was transferred from an investigative isolation ward to a prison for former law enforcement officers.