KIEV, December 4 - RAPSI, Viktor Avdeyenko. The defense of former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko has filed a second application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), his People's Self-Defense party reported.

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.

On November 20, the Kiev Appellate Court has confirmed the second sentence, pursuant to which Lutsenko 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.

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.

In July, the European court found that Lutsenko's arrest was a violation of his rights and obligated Kiev to pay him 15,000 euro in compensation.

In October, Ukraine submitted an application to the court to transfer Lutsenko's case for consideration to the Grand Chamber. However, the latter refused to consider the application. Thus, the European court's ruling in Lutsenko's case came into effect on November 19.